System and method for spectrum managment

ABSTRACT

Transferring spectrum use rights may include ascertaining information regarding available spectrum for use in wireless communications. A request for spectrum use from a spectrum user system may be matched with available spectrum. A spectrum certificate may be issued to the spectrum user system, where the spectrum certificate contains at least one spectrum-related variable under which the spectrum user system is to engage in wireless communications.

RELATED APPLICATION DATA

This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/042,543 filed Mar. 5, 2008, the disclosure of which is hereinincorporated by reference in its entirety, and which claims the benefitof U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/893,221 filed Mar. 6, 2007and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/941,863 filed Jun. 4,2007, the disclosures of which are herein incorporated by reference intheir entireties.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The technology of the present disclosure relates generally to wirelesscommunications and, more particularly, to a system and method forbrokering spectrum among wireless communication systems.

BACKGROUND

The telecommunications industry is in the midst of change due to therapidly improving cost and performance capability of network components.Early telecommunications systems were highly centralized and providedsimple services. Today telecommunications networks (the Internet beingan example) are highly distributed, flexible, and provide a variety ofservices.

Wireless communications continue to gain in popularity, but wirelesscommunications are constrained due to a lack of available, interferencefree spectrum that may be used for reliable communications within ageographic area. A leading cause of the lack of available spectrum isthe manner in which spectrum has been historically allocated. Since theearly days of radio and telegraph transmission, the available radiospectrum in the United States and other jurisdictions has been carved upby regulatory agencies into discrete bands or channels. Use of spectrumbands has been restricted to certain types of users or certainlicensees. Because many of these bands were allocated at a time whentechnology was very primitive and data rate requirements were very low,the bands were not allocated in an efficient manner for current demands.It is contemplated that spectrum would be allocated in a much differentmanner if it were reallocated without regard to current allocations.Also, organizations and enterprises have been granted exclusive userights for spectrum that they are not utilizing to the spectrum'sfullest extent.

In the U.S., for example, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)licenses spectrum in a primary spectrum market to commission licensees.As an example of current spectrum allocation, FIG. 1 shows a portion ofthe current U.S. frequency allocations at 2.5 GHz. As can be seen inFIG. 1, plural bands of various frequency ranges have been establishedand each of these may be allocated to a corresponding commissionlicensee or reserved for government use. It is noted that regulationsspecify that stations operating in the 2568-2572 MHz range and the2614-2618 MHz range are secondary to adjacent channel operations, maynot cause interference and must accept interference from other stations.

A secondary market exists for the commission licensees to sub-leasespectrum for use by other parties. Conventional secondary market leasesinvolve the wholesaling of a spectrum holder's spectrum to anotherparty. This is a one party to one party transaction in which use rightsfor an entire monolithic block of spectrum is transferred.

As a result of this historic allocation and the significant difficultyin re-allocating the spectrum, a number of initiatives have come aboutin order to try to optimize spectrum use. On May 19, 2003, under FCCorder number 03-113, the FCC began an investigation of “smart radios” or“cognitive radios” that could make better use of the spectrum. In 2004the FCC issued a further order (FCC 04-167) that describes the conceptof secondary use of spectrum. That is, a radio user could make use ofsomeone else's spectrum band if the primary license holder is notcurrently using the spectrum and the radio user could guarantee not tointerfere with the primary license holder's operation. However,operation is currently restricted to FCC Part 15 operation inpeer-to-peer (P2P) mode, which precludes many valuable servicealternatives. A variety of mechanisms have been proposed to allow thissecondary use concept to become a reality. These proposals range fromdatabases that describe local use and advise a radio of what spectrum isavailable, to cognitive radios that can “sniff” out unused spectrum touse.

But there remains significant resistance to these secondary useproposals from current spectrum license holders on two fronts,especially due to the potentially non-deterministic behavior of acognitive radio. First is the fear that the license holder cannot policethe secondary users to ensure there will be no interference. Second isthe perception that license holders are “giving away” rights to use avaluable resource, as the license holder's spectrum is a resource thatthe license holder may have paid millions or even billions of dollarsfor the right to use.

As such, there remains room for improvement in the manner in whichspectrum use rights are temporarily transferred from one party toanother.

SUMMARY

To enhance the temporary transfer of spectrum use rights from a spectrumholder to a spectrum user, the present disclosure describes methods andsystems for brokering spectrum and policing brokered spectrum. In thedisclosed methods and systems, spectrum having use rights held by one ormore parties may be disaggregated into plural quantifiable segments, orspectrum commodity items. These segments may be identified by acombination of a time window, a frequency-based spectrum mask, ageography-based spectrum mask and/or a transmitted power limit. Thespectrum commodity items may be exchanged on a spectrum market so thatspectrum users with a need for spectrum to carry out wirelesscommunications may obtain spectrum, potentially in competition withother spectrum users. The methods and systems address the growing needfor spectrum for wireless communication systems by taking advantage ofdormant and/or underutilized spectrum. The method and system mayovercome the challenges imposed by poor spectrum allocation resultingfrom the historical manner in which spectrum has been allocated.

The disclosed methods and systems dynamically allocate spectrum to usersbased on spectrum holder permission and monitoring to unlock theavailability of spectrum for both users of spectrum and spectrumholders. The spectrum that is brokered in the disclosed methods andsystems may be spectrum in licensed or unlicensed frequency bands. Themethods and systems are configured to increase spectrum usage inunderutilized frequency bands and to provide self-policing andmonitoring of spectrum. The methods and systems allow holders ofspectrum to temporarily transfer use of spectrum via an exchange basedon time, geographic space and frequency. In one embodiment, a compositesystem may include a spectrum holder system, a spectrum user system, anda brokerage exchange system.

According to one aspect of the disclosure, a first method oftransferring spectrum use rights includes ascertaining informationregarding available spectrum for use in wireless communications;receiving a request for spectrum use from a spectrum user system;matching the request with available spectrum; and issuing a spectrumcertificate to the spectrum user system, the spectrum certificatecontaining at least one spectrum-related variable under which thespectrum user system is to engage in wireless communications.

According to one embodiment of the first method, the spectrum-relatedvariable relates to frequency and the frequency changes over time.

According to one embodiment of the first method, the matching of therequest for spectrum to available spectrum is based on a bandwidthvariable associated with an intended communications application of thespectrum user system and a radio equipment configuration of the spectrumuser system, and the matching is without regard to direct matching of aregulatory classification of the intended communications applicationwith a regulatory classification of the available spectrum.

According to one embodiment of the first method, the matched spectrum isdisaggregated from total available spectrum from a spectrum holder, thetotal available spectrum having at least one of a larger geographicarea, a wider frequency range or a longer time duration than the matchedspectrum.

According to one embodiment of the first method, the matched spectrum isan aggregate of plural available spectrum segments, each aggregatedspectrum segment being different in at least one of geographic area,frequency range or time duration.

According to one embodiment of the first method, the matching includesmatching an interference tolerance of radio equipment of the spectrumuser system with communications activity of another system.

According to one embodiment of the first method, the available spectrumis identified by spectrum supply analysis that analyzes spectrumutilization data to construct a spectrum commodity item that includes atime window, a frequency-based spectral mask, a geography-based emissionmask and a transmitted power limit, the spectrum commodity itemrepresenting the information regarding the available spectrum.

According to one embodiment of the first method, the spectrum commodityitem is communicated to a broker system that receives the requests andcarries out the matching.

According to one embodiment of the first method, the spectrum supplyanalysis and the broker system are hosted separately.

According to one embodiment of the first method, the spectrum supplyanalysis and the broker system are hosted by a common entity.

According to one embodiment of the first method, the available spectrumis associated with a holder of the spectrum.

According to one embodiment of the first method, the broker systemrequests use of at least some of the available spectrum from a spectrumholder system of the holder.

According to one embodiment of the first method, a broker systemreceives the requests and carries out the matching and the availablespectrum is communicated to the broker system in the form of a spectrumcommodity item that includes a time window, a frequency-based spectralmask, a geography-based emission mask and a transmitted power limit, thespectrum commodity item representing the information regarding theavailable spectrum

According to another aspect of the disclosure, a second method oftransferring spectrum use rights includes receiving an offer for aspectrum commodity item that identifies available spectrum by a timewindow, a frequency-based spectral mask, a geography-based emission maskand a transmitted power limit, the receiving made by a spectrum exchangethat is hosted by a machine implemented broker system; receiving one ormore bids for the spectrum commodity item from at least one prospectivespectrum user system of the available spectrum that is associated withthe spectrum commodity item; matching a received bid with the offer; andissuing a spectrum certificate to the spectrum user system that placedthe matched bid.

According to one embodiment of the second method, the spectrumcertificate contains a frequency-related variable under which thespectrum user system is to engage in wireless communications, and thefrequency-related variable changes over time.

According to one embodiment of the second method, the matching is basedon a bandwidth variable associated with an intended communicationsapplication of the spectrum user system and a radio equipmentconfiguration of the spectrum user system, and the matching is withoutregard to direct matching of a regulatory classification of the intendedcommunications application with a regulatory classification of spectrumassociated with the offer.

According to one embodiment of the second method, spectrum associatedwith the spectrum certificate is disaggregated from total availablespectrum associated with the offer, and the total available spectrumhaving at least one of a larger geographic area, a wider frequency rangeor a longer time duration than the spectrum associated with the spectrumcertificate.

According to one embodiment of the second method, a spectrum segmentfrom the matched offer is aggregated with another spectrum segment, andeach aggregated spectrum segment is different in at least one ofgeographic area, frequency range or time duration.

According to one embodiment of the second method, the matching includesmatching an interference tolerance of radio equipment of the spectrumuser system with communications activity of another system.

According to one embodiment of the second method, the spectrumcertificate is a data object that obligates a radio device associatedwith the spectrum user system to which the spectrum certificate wasissued to comply with the spectrum certificate.

According to one embodiment, the second method further includesidentifying unused or underutilized spectrum of one or more spectrumholders; and generating the spectrum commodity item as a function of theidentified spectrum

According to one embodiment of the second method, spectrum use data isgenerated by deployed spectrum sensors and the spectrum use data isanalyzed to identify the unused or underutilized spectrum.

According to one embodiment of the second method, the identifying iscarried out predicatively to identify spectrum that will be unused orunderutilized in the future.

According to one embodiment of the second method, the spectrum commodityitem is generated by a spectrum holder system of a holder of spectrumthat is associated with the spectrum commodity item.

According to one embodiment of the second method, the spectrum commodityitem is generated by the broker system.

According to one embodiment of the second method, the spectrum that isassociated with the spectrum commodity item corresponds to unlicensedspectrum.

According to one embodiment of the second method, the frequency-basedspectral mask includes at least one of a frequency range or a centerfrequency.

According to one embodiment, the second method further includestemporarily or permanently revoking the spectrum certificate if aspectrum user system having higher priority than the spectrum usersystem to which the spectrum certificate was issued has a need for thespectrum that is associated with the spectrum commodity item.

According to one embodiment, the second method further includes warningthe spectrum user system to which the spectrum certificate was issued ifthe spectrum user system does not comply with the combination of thetime window, the frequency-based spectral mask, the geography-basedemission mask and the transmitted power limit associated with thespectrum commodity item.

According to one embodiment, the second method further includestemporarily or permanently revoking the spectrum certificate if thespectrum user system does not comply with the combination of the timewindow, the frequency-based spectral mask, the geography-based emissionmask and the transmitted power limit associated with the spectrumcommodity item.

According to one embodiment of the second method, the offer is posted aspart of a book of offers for spectrum commodity items.

According to one embodiment of the second method, the offers haveassociated prices.

According to one embodiment of the second method, the bids are posted aspart of a book of bids for spectrum commodity items.

According to one embodiment of the second method, the bids haveassociated prices.

According to one embodiment of the second method, the bid and offer arematched based on monetary prices that are respectively associated withthe bid and the offer.

According to one embodiment of the second method, the bid and offer arematched based on priority of the spectrum user systems associated thebids.

According to one embodiment of the second method, the bid and offer arematched based on a non-monetary price consideration.

According to one embodiment of the second method, the non-monetary priceconsideration is spectrum availability.

According to one embodiment of the second method, the bid and offer arematched based on artificial currency prices that are respectivelyassociated with the bid and the offer, and there is a finite-sizedcurrency pool for the artificial currency.

According to one embodiment of the second method, portions of theartificial currency pool are allocated respectively to competinginterests for spectrum for wireless communications.

According to one embodiment of the second method, part of the artificialcurrency pool is allocated to exchanging spectrum for wirelesscommunication access by client devices and part of the artificialcurrency pool is allocated to exchanging spectrum for backhaul service.

According to one embodiment of the second method, part of the currencypool is allocated to a first user of spectrum for wirelesscommunications and part of the artificial currency pool is allocated toa second user of spectrum for wireless communications.

According to another aspect of the disclosure a first spectrum brokersystem that hosts a spectrum exchange for the transfer of spectrum userights includes a matching engine that matches a request for spectrumuse that is received from a spectrum user system with spectrum that isavailable for use in wireless communications; and a certificategenerator that issues a spectrum certificate to the spectrum usersystem, the spectrum certificate containing at least onespectrum-related variable under which the spectrum user system is toengage in wireless communications.

According to one embodiment of the first spectrum broker system, thespectrum-related variable relates to frequency and the frequency changesover time.

According to one embodiment of the first spectrum broker system, thematching of the request for spectrum to available spectrum is based on abandwidth variable associated with an intended communicationsapplication of the spectrum user system and a radio equipmentconfiguration of the spectrum user system, and the matching is withoutregard to direct matching of a regulatory classification of the intendedcommunications application with a regulatory classification of theavailable spectrum.

According to one embodiment of the first spectrum broker system, thematched spectrum is disaggregated from total available spectrum from aspectrum holder, the total available spectrum having at least one of alarger geographic area, a wider frequency range or a longer timeduration than the matched spectrum.

According to one embodiment of the first spectrum broker system, thematched spectrum is an aggregate of plural available spectrum segments,each aggregated spectrum segment being different in at least one ofgeographic area, frequency range or time duration.

According to one embodiment of the first spectrum broker system, thematching includes matching an interference tolerance of radio equipmentof the spectrum user system with communications activity of anothersystem.

According to one embodiment of the first spectrum broker system, theavailable spectrum is identified by spectrum supply analysis thatanalyzes spectrum utilization data to construct a spectrum commodityitem that includes a time window, a frequency-based spectral mask, ageography-based emission mask and a transmitted power limit, thespectrum commodity item representing information regarding the availablespectrum.

According to one embodiment of the first spectrum broker system, thespectrum commodity item is communicated to the matching engine.

According to one embodiment of the first spectrum broker system, thespectrum supply analysis and the matching engine are hosted separately.

According to one embodiment of the first spectrum broker system, thespectrum supply analysis and the matching engine are hosted by a commonentity.

According to one embodiment of the first spectrum broker system, theavailable spectrum is associated with a holder of the spectrum.

According to one embodiment of the first spectrum broker system, thematching engine requests use of the available spectrum from a spectrumholder system of the holder.

According to one embodiment of the first spectrum broker system, theavailable spectrum is communicated to the matching engine in the form ofa spectrum commodity item that includes a time window, a frequency-basedspectral mask, a geography-based emission mask and a transmitted powerlimit, the spectrum commodity item representing information regardingthe available spectrum

According to another aspect of the disclosure, a second spectrum brokersystem that hosts a spectrum exchange for the transfer of spectrum userights includes an matching engine that receives offers of spectrumcommodity items, each spectrum commodity item identifying availablespectrum by a time window, a frequency-based spectral mask, ageography-based emission mask and a transmitted power limit; receivesone or more bids for one or more of the spectrum commodity items from atleast one prospective spectrum user system; and matches a received bidwith one of the offers; and a certificate generator that issues aspectrum certificate to the spectrum user system that placed the matchedbid.

According to one embodiment of the second spectrum broker system, thespectrum certificate contains a frequency-related variable under whichthe spectrum user system is to engage in wireless communications, andthe frequency-related variable changes over time.

According to one embodiment of the second spectrum broker system, thematching is based on a bandwidth variable associated with an intendedcommunications application of the spectrum user system and a radioequipment configuration of the spectrum user system, and the matching iswithout regard to direct matching of a regulatory classification of theintended communications application with a regulatory classification ofspectrum associated with the offer.

According to one embodiment of the second spectrum broker system,spectrum associated with the spectrum certificate is disaggregated fromtotal available spectrum associated with the offer, and the totalavailable spectrum having at least one of a larger geographic area, awider frequency range or a longer time duration than the spectrumassociated with the spectrum certificate.

According to one embodiment of the second spectrum broker system, aspectrum segment from the matched offer is aggregated with anotherspectrum segment, and each aggregated spectrum segment is different inat least one of geographic area, frequency range or time duration.

According to one embodiment of the second spectrum broker system, thematching includes matching an interference tolerance of radio equipmentof the spectrum user system with communications activity of anothersystem.

According to one embodiment of the second spectrum broker system, eachspectrum certificate is a data object that obligates a radio deviceassociated with the spectrum user system to which the spectrumcertificate was issued to comply with the spectrum certificate.

According to one embodiment of the second spectrum broker system, thespectrum commodity item is a function of available spectrum that isidentified from unused or underutilized spectrum of one or more spectrumholders.

According to one embodiment of the second spectrum broker system,spectrum use data is generated by deployed spectrum sensors and thespectrum use data is analyzed to identify the unused or underutilizedspectrum.

According to one embodiment of the second spectrum broker system, theidentification of unused or underutilized spectrum is a predictiveidentification to identify spectrum that will be unused or underutilizedin the future.

According to one embodiment of the second spectrum broker system, thespectrum commodity item is generated by a spectrum holder system of aholder of spectrum that is associated with the spectrum commodity item.

According to one embodiment of the second spectrum broker system, thespectrum commodity item is generated by the broker system.

According to one embodiment of the second spectrum broker system, thespectrum that is associated with the spectrum commodity item correspondsto unlicensed spectrum.

According to one embodiment of the second spectrum broker system, thefrequency-based spectral mask includes at least one of a frequency rangeor a center frequency.

According to one embodiment of the second spectrum broker system, thespectrum broker system temporarily or permanently revokes the spectrumcertificate if a spectrum user system having higher priority than thespectrum user system to which the spectrum certificate was issued has aneed for the spectrum that is associated with the spectrum commodityitem.

According to one embodiment of the second spectrum broker system, thespectrum broker system warns the spectrum user system to which thespectrum certificate was issued if the spectrum user system does notcomply with the combination of the time window, the frequency-basedspectral mask, the geography-based emission mask and the transmittedpower limit associated with the spectrum commodity item.

According to one embodiment of the second spectrum broker system, thespectrum broker system temporarily or permanently revokes the spectrumcertificate if the spectrum user system does not comply with thecombination of the time window, the frequency-based spectral mask, thegeography-based emission mask and the transmitted power limit associatedwith the spectrum commodity item.

According to one embodiment of the second spectrum broker system, theoffer is posted as part of a book of offers for spectrum commodityitems.

According to one embodiment of the second spectrum broker system, theoffers have associated prices.

According to one embodiment of the second spectrum broker system, thebids are posted as part of a book of bids for spectrum commodity items.

According to one embodiment of the second spectrum broker system, thebids have associated prices.

According to one embodiment of the second spectrum broker system, thebid and offer are matched based on monetary prices that are respectivelyassociated with the bid and the offer.

According to one embodiment of the second spectrum broker system, thebid and offer are matched based on priority of the spectrum user systemsassociated the bids.

According to one embodiment of the second spectrum broker system, thebid and offer are matched based on a non-monetary price consideration.

According to one embodiment of the second spectrum broker system, thenon-monetary price consideration is spectrum availability.

According to one embodiment of the second spectrum broker system, thebid and offer are matched based on artificial currency prices that arerespectively associated with the bid and the offer, and there is afinite-sized currency pool for the artificial currency.

According to one embodiment of the second spectrum broker system,portions of the artificial currency pool are allocated respectively tocompeting interests for spectrum for wireless communications.

According to one embodiment of the second spectrum broker system, partof the artificial currency pool is allocated to exchanging spectrum forwireless communication access by client devices and part of theartificial currency pool is allocated to exchanging spectrum forbackhaul service.

According to one embodiment of the second spectrum broker system, partof the currency pool is allocated to a first user of spectrum forwireless communications and part of the artificial currency pool isallocated to a second user of spectrum for wireless communications.

These and further features will be apparent with reference to thefollowing description and attached drawings. In the description anddrawings, particular embodiments of the invention have been disclosed indetail as being indicative of some of the ways in which the principlesof the invention may be employed, but it is understood that theinvention is not limited correspondingly in scope. Rather, the inventionincludes all changes, modifications and equivalents coming within thescope of the claims appended hereto.

Features that are described and/or illustrated with respect to oneembodiment may be used in the same way or in a similar way in one ormore other embodiments and/or in combination with or instead of thefeatures of the other embodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of U.S. spectrum allocations ataround 2.5 GHz;

FIG. 2 is a schematic graph of disaggregated blocks of spectrum thateach has use rights that may be transferred from a correspondingspectrum holder to a spectrum user;

FIG. 3 is a schematic graph representing the grant of spectrum accessfrom exemplary spectrum holders to exemplary spectrum users;

FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram of an exemplary system fortransferring spectrum use rights;

FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram of another exemplary system fortransferring spectrum use rights;

FIG. 6 is a schematic block diagram of another exemplary system fortransferring spectrum use rights;

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram of an exemplary protocol between a certificateagent and a broker system of a system for transferring spectrum userights;

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram of an exemplary protocol between a holdersystem and a broker system of a system for transferring spectrum userights;

FIG. 9 is a schematic block diagram of an exemplary system forallocating unlicensed spectrum;

FIG. 10 is a schematic block diagram of an exemplary system fortransferring spectrum use rights;

FIG. 11 is a schematic block diagram of a software architecture for aspectrum user system component of the system of FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is a schematic block diagram of a software architecture for aspectrum holder system component of the system of FIG. 10;

FIG. 13 is a schematic block diagram of a software architecture for aspectrum broker system component of the system of FIG. 10;

FIG. 14 is a schematic representation of a typical spectrum allocationunder historical spectrum allocation techniques;

FIG. 15 is a schematic representation of a spectrum allocation using abrokered approach; and

FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram of a wireless network.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments will now be described with reference to the drawings,wherein like reference numerals are used to refer to like elementsthroughout. It will be understood that the figures are not necessarilyto scale.

A. Overview A(1). Parties

In this document, described are various entities that have arelationship to electromagnetic spectrum for use in wirelesscommunications. One entity is a spectrum holder, or simply a holder. Aholder is any entity having the authority to release spectrum use toanother entity by granting the other entity access to the spectrum. Aswill be described, the granting of access may be a temporary permissionto use spectrum that is associated with the holder. Therefore, theaccess grant need not be a lease or a sub-lease, as defined by the FCC.The holder may be, but is not limited to, a government or regulatoryagency (e.g., in the United States, the FCC), a Commission licensee(e.g., in the United States, an entity that has licensed spectrumdirectly from the FCC in the primary spectrum market), or a secondarymarket licensee.

Another entity is a spectrum user, or simply a user. A user is anyentity or wireless communications system that has a need for spectrum inorder to carry out wireless communications. The user also may be aholder.

Another entity is a spectrum broker. A spectrum broker is any entitythat hosts an automated spectrum brokerage as described in greaterdetail in this document. The spectrum broker may be a holder, a user ora third party. In some instances, the term broker will be used to referto a device or system that hosts a brokerage function and is not to beconfused with an entity that owns or operates the device or system.

In embodiments of some of the methods and systems described in thisdocument, use rights in disaggregated segments of spectrum or aggregatedsegments of spectrum are transferred from a holder (or holders) to auser by operation of a spectrum brokerage. The user that receives theuser rights will typically be a separate entity from the holder of thespectrum, but this need not be the case (e.g., the holder may be thesame entity as the user).

A(2). Spectrum Segments

Each segment of spectrum for which access permission may be transferredmay be identified by several components and each component is defined byone or more variables. Exemplary components include a time window, afrequency-based spectral mask, a geography-based emission mask and atransmitted power limit. The time window may be a period of time thathas a starting point given by a day and time and an ending point givenby a day and time. Alternatively, the time window may be a period oftime specified by a starting time and a duration. The time window may beas short as second and as long as years.

The frequency-based spectral mask, as is known in the art, may be amathematically defined set of lines applied to levels of radiotransmission. The frequency-based spectral mask is generally intended toreduce interference by limiting excessive radiation at frequenciesbeyond a certain bandwidth. Spectral masks often include a centerfrequency and/or a frequency range. Also, spectral masks often includean absolute power component or a relative power component. For anabsolute power component, the frequency-based spectral mask may specifythat transmission beyond a specified frequency range must be below aspecified power value. For a relative power component, thefrequency-based spectral mask may specify that transmission beyond aspecified frequency range must be below a relative power value asdetermined by a function, such as a specified power value below thetotal amount of power being transmitted.

The geography-based emission mask may include a defined geographicalboundary that radios operating in accordance with the emission mask maynot appreciably transmit beyond. The geographical boundary specified bythe geography-based emission mask may be a complex construct thatrelates to a contiguous or non-contiguous area. The amount ofpermissible transmission beyond the geographical boundary may bedetermined in an absolute manner or a relative manner. For an absolutemanner, the geography-based emission mask may specify that transmissionbeyond the boundary must be below a specified power value. For arelative manner, the geography-based emission mask may specify thattransmission beyond the boundary must be below a relative power value asdetermined by a function, such as a specified power value below thetotal amount of power being transmitted. In one embodiment, the functionused for calculating the relative power value may include a distanceparameter so that the relative power value may be calculated as afunction of distance away from the boundary or other geographicalreference.

The geography-based emission mask, alone or in combination with the timewindow, the frequency-based spectral mask and the transmitted powerlimit, may be established to control an amount of interference that auser system generates with respect to continued operations of thespectrum holder and/or other users. As will be described below, controlover user-generated interference may be balanced with the generation ofinterference that affects the user.

The transmitted power limit may be a power value that radios operatingin accordance with the transmitted power limit may not exceed. Thetransmitted power limit may be absolute or relative. The transmittedpower limit may be independent of the frequency-based spectral maskand/or the geography-based emission mask. The transmitted power limitmay be expressed as an average power value (e.g., average total power),a peak power value, or similar value. Exemplary transmitted power limitsare 500 milliwatts (mW), one watt (W), 1,000 watts, etc.

With additional reference to FIG. 2, the components that identify ablock of spectrum (e.g., the time window, the frequency-based spectralmask, the geography-based emission mask and/or the transmitted powerlimit) may combine to form a spectrum commodity item 10. The graph ofFIG. 2 schematically illustrates disaggregated blocks of spectrum inthree dimensions, including time, space (or geography) and frequencywhich may be respectively specified with more particularity by the timewindow, the geography-based emission mask and the frequency-basedspectral mask. Each spectrum commodity item 10 may be associated withuse rights that may be transferred from a corresponding spectrum holderto a spectrum user. The spectrum commodity item may have an associatedmonetary or non-monetary value, or may not be associated with a value.

Spectrum commodity items may be generated by analyzing actual, currentspectrum usage and/or predicted, future spectrum usage. Each spectrumcommodity item may relate to a definable amount of spectrum fromspectrum that is allocated to a holder so as to identify unused orunderutilized spectrum that may be made available for use by anotherentity, or by the holder in a more productive manner. The holder maycarry out this analysis or this analysis may be carried out by anotherentity, such the spectrum broker. Spectrum commodity items may beoffered to users that request spectrum usage, such as by bidding onspecific commodity items or by submitting a spectrum use request. Thebrokerage may match offers of spectrum to bids or requests for spectrum.Once matched, the user may be provided with a spectrum certificate. Inone embodiment, the spectrum certificate is a data object that forcesradio devices of an associated spectrum user system to operate inaccordance with spectrum-related components of the spectrum certificate,such as a time window, a frequency-based spectral mask, ageography-based emission mask and a transmitted power limit. Additionaldetails of the transfer of spectrum use rights will be described belowin connection with a number of exemplary operational scenarios. Also,aspects of regulating compliance with one or more spectrum certificatesthat are issued to a user are described below.

A(3). Flexible Spectrum Exchange

Spectrum users are often interested in obtaining access to spectrum fora particular application, such as enterprise applications, two-waycommunications, point-to-point microwave transmissions,point-to-multipoint communications, cellular communications, mobilebroadband communications, and so forth. It will be appreciated that thislist is in no way exhaustive of the possible communication applicationsof potential users. Historically, spectrum users have gained spectrumaccess for their application(s) by obtaining a license or a secondarymarket license for spectrum that supports the desired application. Inthis historical sense, the spectrum associated with the license isdefined by a geographical area, a spectral mask, a frequency (or set offrequencies) and one or more service rules. In the U.S., service rulesare typically specified under an FCC “Part” number. The service rulesunder each license refer to an application and/or the type of radiotechnology that may use the licensed spectrum. While the service rulesare typically commensurate with the user's desired application, thelicensed spectrum effectively is limited for a stated purpose, althoughseveral types of uses may fall within the purpose as governed by theservice rules associated with the license.

This historical approach to spectrum licensing raises some issues. Forexample, some potential spectrum users may not be knowledgeable in thevast array of FCC service rules or other regulatory rules of the U.S. ornon-U.S. regulator that govern various wireless communications. Evenwhen the spectrum user is knowledgeable in the rules, navigating thelicensing process may be a considerable task. Another issue is that thepotential user may not have the understanding of telecommunicationsprinciples and technical considerations to seek spectrum access thatwill support the intended application. For instance, some applicationsmay benefit from “good” in-building penetration and some applicationsmay benefit from a relatively large amount of bandwidth, but theseconsiderations may not be well understood by the user. Even when thespectrum user is knowledgeable in the technical considerations, seekingspectrum that will satisfy the application with a minimum associatedlicensing cost is a considerable task.

Another issue created by the service rules and/or other regulatoryconstraints is that a licensee has a limited audience to which thelicensee may sub-lease the associated spectrum. That is, the potentialsecondary market for licensed spectrum is narrowed to users who exactlymeet the service rules of other regulatory constraints.

The Applicants have come to appreciate that the historic allocation ofspectrum artificially creates constraints on spectrum utilization andthe value associated with spectrum. To make more efficient use ofspectrum and impart economic value to unused or underutilized spectrum,a holder's spectrum may be deconstructed into spectrum segments that maybe used by others. For instance, the above-described spectrum commodityitems 10 may be used to initially identify the available spectrum. Inone embodiment, the spectrum commodity items 10 make no distinction withrespect to service rules or other regulatory considerations that areassociated with the holder's spectrum. Therefore, the spectrum commodityitems 10, by themselves, impose no restriction on the use of thecorresponding spectrum.

The exchange system, as described in greater detail below, may parse thespectrum of the holder along each of the geography-based component, thefrequency-based component, and the time-based component. Each of thesecomponents may be partitioned in any manner. For instance, spectrum inthe same location may be broken into multiple frequency ranges as wouldbest serve the spectrum demands of users. Also, spectrum that overlapsin frequency may be broken up geographically. In other situations, thespectrum may be left as a single frequency range and/or combined withspectrum of another holder to form an aggregate spectrum segment. Asanother example, spectrum associated with a location and a frequencycomponent may be partitioned in time and then made sequentiallyavailable to different users. As such, a holder's available spectrum maybecome disaggregated and the use rights to the “same” spectrum may bereallocated over and over again. Similarly, spectrum from one or moresources may be aggregated to build a spectrum segment that supports anapplication of a user.

In this regard, a potential spectrum user that attempts to acquirespectrum use rights through the exchange system may seek sufficientbandwidth in a location for a desired application. This is instead ofthe conventional practice where users seek spectrum using regulatoryrules (e.g., FCC service rules) that dictate specified frequencycriteria. The user may specify a time frame in which the spectrum isdesired. Therefore, in one embodiment, when matching available spectrumof one or more holders to the spectrum needs of the user, the exchangesystem does not directly consider FCC or other regulatory constraintsthat are associated with the user's application (e.g., point-to-pointcommunications, point-to-multipoint communications, peer-to-peercommunications, etc.). Rather, available spectrum is viewed as beingflexible with respect to the user's intended application. As a practicalexample, a user may seek spectrum for a mobile video application in adesired location for a desired period of time. Depending on the radioequipment fielded by the user, the user may indicate an acceptablefrequency range, such as 2.3 GHz to 2.5 GHz for this example. In someinstances, the user need not specify the amount of bandwidth that theuser is seeking, but this information can be specified if known to theuser. In this manner, the user does not need to know how to obtain alicense or secondary market license with service rules or otherregulatory rules that match the user's application. Also, the user mayhave minimal knowledge about the technical considerations for launchingthe desired application. Rather, the exchange engine may match the userwith available spectrum that will accomplish the user's goals. Thespectrum, in terms of at least frequency, may change over the timeperiod specified by the user.

To this end, the exchange engine may be an expert system that interpretsan application that is specified by the user and interprets anyconstraints on the available spectrum as set forth by the service and/orregulatory rules that are associated with the available spectrum. Forexample, in the foregoing example of a mobile video application, theexpert system may conclude that the user may be in need of about a onemegahertz band of spectrum (or this information may be specified by theuser). Once the user's needs are interpreted and the available spectrumis interpreted, the expert system may apply heuristic algorithms to finda match between the user's spectrum need and the spectrum that isavailable from a holder. In one embodiment, the radio devices employedby the user are certified to operate in accordance with the user'sintended application. Therefore, as long as there is a match betweencertification of the radio devices of the user and available spectrum,access to the holder's spectrum may be granted to the user by the brokersystem. This matching process may be fundamentally transparent to theuser and the holder.

Another factor that the exchange engine may consider is the amount ofinterference that the user's radio equipment may tolerate whenimplementing the desired application. This interference may originatefrom the continued operations of the holder and/or other users. Forexample, the exchange engine may minimize granting a user access tospectrum of a holder where the user may be located with respect to atransmitter of the holder (or other user) so that the user mayexperience a potentially detrimental amount of interference, even if theuser would not likely interfere with the holder or other users.

With additional reference to FIG. 3, shown is representative spectrumassociated with three holders (labeled holder 1, holder 2 and holder 3)in a hypothetical geographic area. The vertical axis shows relativefrequency associated with the spectrum of each holder and the horizontalshows the progression of time. Blocks labeled user 1 show spectrum inthe hypothetical location for which a first user has been granted accessusing the exchange engine. Blocks labeled user 2 show spectrum in thehypothetical geographic area for which a second user has been grantedaccess using the exchange engine.

In the exemplary chart of FIG. 3, user 1 may be the above-describedexemplary user seeking spectrum for a mobile video application. The usermay have sought continuous spectrum access during the illustrated timeperiod. Depending on time, cost and/or availability, the exchange enginemay match the needs of user 1 with spectrum that changes in frequencyover time. For example, and as illustrated, user 1 may start withspectrum from holder 1. At a point in time, the access grant to thespectrum from holder 1 may expire and user 1 may be granted access tospectrum from holder 3. As illustrated, this switching process maycontinue as based on the matching criteria, how long the user desires tooperate the application and market forces (e.g., the monetary ornon-monetary cost associated with spectrum of various frequencies). Inthe illustrated example, the user is switched from the spectrum ofholder 3 to the spectrum of holder 2, then back to the spectrum ofholder 3, then back to spectrum of holder 1 and back again to thespectrum of holder 3. As illustrated, even if a user is switched back tospectrum of a holder from which the user previously had spectrum access,the frequency associated with the two time periods may be different.Overall, the access grants to user 1 are shown as being contiguous intime, but discontinuous in frequency. In the illustrated example, whenan access grant to one holder's spectrum expires, the next access grantcommences. In other embodiments, the continuous spectrum access may beprovided though grants that overlap in time.

In the exemplary chart of FIG. 3, user 2 may be interested in conductingwireless communications in the same or overlapping geographic area asuser 1. In the example, user 2 initially has a need for a relativelylarge amount of bandwidth, which is immediately followed by a smallerbandwidth need. The smaller bandwidth need is, in turn, followed by aperiod of no need and a subsequent period of the smaller bandwidth need.In the illustrated example, the exchange engine satisfies the bandwidthneeds of user 2 by initially aggregating spectrum from holder 2 andholder 3. The subsequent durations, when smaller amounts of bandwidthare needed, are satisfied by granting access to spectrum from holder 2and then from holder 1. There is a corresponding time gap between thesetwo access grants. Also, it may be observed that the spectrum fromholder 1 corresponds to the frequency that user 1 previously had accessto.

When granting spectrum access to a user, the user may be issued aspectrum certificate. The spectrum certificate is a data object that theradio devices and/or other components of the user's system based theiroperation. As described in greater detail below, communications-relatedinformation, such as frequency, spectral mask and power limits, may becontained in such a data object. In this manner, the communicationequipment of the user is self-regulating to comply with the spectrumaccess grant and such operation is transparent to the user. Forinstance, if the frequency with which the equipment is to operatechanges, the spectrum certificate may be used to automaticallyeffectuate the change.

As will be more fully described, the broker system matches spectrumavailability to spectrum need based on a number of factors, includingsome or all of geography, service rules and/or other regulatoryconstraints on the holder's spectrum, user's application, user's radioequipment, bandwidth (inclusive of frequency and spectral maskconsiderations), power, interference, and price (or other non-monetaryconsideration). Additional criteria may be evaluated as part of thematching process. For example, the holder may place constraints on theuse of spectrum that is granted to another entity. One such constraintmay be a non-competition restriction. For instance, a cellular serviceprovider may allow the exchange engine to grant access to the cellularservice provider's available spectrum for any application other than adirectly competing service.

In addition to carrying out the matching of available spectrum ofholders to bandwidth needs of users, the disclosed brokerage exchangeencompasses functionality to manage any financial consideration paid foracquiring spectrum access through the exchange. In addition, policing ofspectrum usage is managed to regulate compliance with the grant ofspectrum access to a user. Policing of spectrum utilization is describedbelow in greater detail. In addition, the exchange itself overseesspectrum transactions to ensure that both the holders and the users arein compliance with any applicable government or regulatory rules. Inthis manner, the holders can avail spectrum to others and the users canacquire spectrum access without having to be directly concerned withgovernmental and regulatory compliance.

As a result of disaggregation and/or aggregation of spectrum in themanners described, efficient use of available spectrum may be made andeconomic (and/or non-economic) value may be gained from brokeringspectrum in these manner. Also, even small spectrum segments can be putto use and/or exploited for value. These techniques differ fromconventional techniques of seeking spectrum in a secondary market wherestrict adherence to service and/or regulatory rules determines if aholder's spectrum is suitable for use by a potential user. As such, inthe conventional approach, the potential user must be highly involved inseeking out spectrum that matches any service and/or regulatory rulesthat govern the user's intended application for the spectrum.

The disclosed broker exchange may be used with programmed radio devicesand/or opportunistic radio devices, including ultra-wide band (UWB)radios and cognitive radios. While opportunist radio equipment can takeadvantage of unused spectrum, there is no guarantee of quality ofservice since the radio equipment must release the spectrum use if theprimary user commences communication using the spectrum. If sufficientspectrum is not available, the opportunistic radio equipment may not beable to provide the service expected by the user. In contrast, thedisclosed brokerage exchange may transparently assist the user obtainspectrum access in a manner that minimizes quality of service issues,regardless of radio equipment type. In one embodiment, upon issuance ofa spectrum certificate to a user so as to grant the user access toassociated spectrum, the holder also may be issued a spectrumcertificate or other indication of the spectrum access grant so that theholder regulates its spectrum use to avoid interfering with the spectrumnow granted to the user.

In sum, the disclosed systems and methods may reduce the transactiontime, transaction cost and complexity in temporarily shifting spectrumuse rights from a holder to a user. In many instances, the transfer ofuse rights may be accomplished without invoking a spectrum lease in theprimary or secondary markets for spectrum.

The sub-sections that follow are exemplary implementations oftransferring use rights in spectrum and/or monitoring use by a recipientof the use rights. Each sub-section describes particularimplementations, but it will be understood that each implementationrepresents an embodiment of the disclosed systems and methods. As such,features that are described and/or illustrated with respect to onesub-section of this document may be used in the same way or in a similarway in one or more other embodiments and/or in combination with orinstead of the features of the other embodiments.

In each embodiment, the type or types of radio devices that use thespectrum are not germane to the underlying systems and methods. As such,the systems and methods may be applied in any operational context forwireless communications, and wireless communications are expresslyintended to encompass unidirectional signal transmissions (e.g.,broadcasting of a signal for receipt by a device without response) andto encompass bidirectional communications where devices engage in theexchange of signals. The methods and systems may be applied to dumband/or cognitive radio devices. The methods and systems may be appliedto licensed or unlicensed spectrum. Furthermore, the methods and systemsare generic to modulation schemes, harmonic considerations, frequencybands or channels used by the radio devices, the type of data orinformation that is transmitted, how the radio devices use receivedinformation, and other similar communications considerations. Thus, thesystems and methods have application in any suitable environment.

The term “radio circuit” refers to any structural arrangement thatimplements a stated communication function, and may include dedicatedcircuit components, firmware, and/or a processor that executes logicalinstructions. The term “control circuit” refers to any structuralarrangement that implements a stated control function, and may includededicated circuit components, firmware, and/or a processor that executeslogical instructions. In one embodiment, functional operations that aredescribed as being implemented in the context of software may beimplemented as one or more programs that are stored on computer ormachine readable medium and that are executed by a processor that formspart of a control circuit.

B. Brokering Spectrum Among Wireless Devices and/or Networks

With additional reference to FIG. 4, shown is an exemplary system 12 fortransferring spectrum use rights. A spectrum broker component 14 may beused to acquire knowledge of the utilization of spectrum in a givengeographic area and is permitted to provide one or more radios 16 of oneor more spectrum user systems 18 with a right-to-use certificate (e.g.,a spectrum certificate). The mechanism by which the spectrum broker 14acquires the utilization knowledge is not directly germane to issuanceof the right-to-use certificate and may be carried out in any suitablemanner, including those described below.

A certificate agent 20 may reside in one or more of the radio devices 16that utilize spectrum. The certificate agent 20 may be responsible forcoordinating the obtaining of a right-to-use certificate from thespectrum broker 14. The right-to-use certificate may be a data objectused to bind operation of the radio 16 associated with the certificateagent 20 to specific frequencies and other transmission-relatedvariables specified by the right-to-use certificate. For example, thecertificate also may dictate a geographic area in which the certificateis valid and also may dictate a length of time the certificate is valid.Armed with a valid certificate, the radio 16 may be allowed to operatein the spectrum designated by the certificate. The certificate agent 20may function to ensure that the radio complies with the terms of use.Other entities, such as the broker 14 and/or one or more spectrumanalysis devices may police the spectrum to further ensure compliancewith the certificate. The mechanisms by which the agent and/or otherentities police the radio are not directly germane to issuance of theright-to-use certificate and may be carried out in any suitable manner,including those described below.

In one embodiment, the broker 14 and the agent 20 may communicate usinga predetermined protocol based on extensible markup language (XML) or asimilar language to describe the constraints and conditions of thecertificate.

The system 12 may allow a spectrum holder system 22 to provide thespectrum broker 14 with rules and/or regulations related to secondaryuse of the spectrum associated with the spectrum holder system 22. Thespectrum holder system 22 then may have a reasonably high degree ofconfidence that the spectrum broker 14 and the certificate agent 20 willcomply with the rules and that, if a monetary transaction is involved,financial considerations are addressed.

From this basic arrangement, exemplary embodiments will be described inthis sub-section, but other scenarios that fall within the conceptsdescribed herein are possible.

The first exemplary embodiment involves the system 12 in which licensedspectrum is utilized and will be described with respect to FIG. 4. Thesecond exemplary embodiment involves the system 12, but operates inunlicensed spectrum and will be described with respect to FIG. 5. Adifference between these two embodiments is that, in the firstembodiment, all the spectrum (and thus, all the users 14) is controlledand, in the second embodiment, only partial control may be possiblebecause unlicensed, but permissible, user systems 14 may coexist in thespecified band along with the user system(s) 14 operating in accordancewith the right-to-use certificates.

The broker 14 allows for transactions involving spectrum to beautomated. Also, preemption is possible in the system 12. For example, aradio's certificate may be rescinded if a higher priority user desiresaccess to the spectrum. The system 12 provides confidence throughpolicing and provides possible revenue opportunities.

With continued reference to FIG. 4, the spectrum holder system 22 mayprovide information to the broker 14 regarding the available spectrumand any conditions that may be imposed by the spectrum holder system 22(arrow A). The broker 14 may already know government or regulatory bodyregulations (e.g., as defined by the FCC or other entity) that governthe spectrum (arrow B) including, for example, service rules. Forinstance, the regulations may be stored by a regulations database 24that is part of or accessible by the broker 14.

Once the spectrum holder system 22 offers or avails spectrum to thebroker 14, the broker 14 may, in turn, request to use the spectrum inthe same way as any other user that is allocated spectrum directly fromthe spectrum holder system 22. For instance, the spectrum holder system22 may issue a certificate to the broker 14. Thus, the broker 14 mayknow what spectrum is in use and/or is available for use by user systems18 by virtue of the knowledge of certificates that were issued. The usersystems 18 may be or include any communication radio, collection ofradios, network or system that uses spectrum authorized under acertificate, and may include, but are not limited to, client devices(e.g., mobile telephones, wireless network interfaces, etc.), basestations, wireless access points, and so forth.

One or more potential user systems 18 may be authenticated and/orvalidated by the broker 14 (arrow C) prior to being able to request ause certificate from the broker 14 (arrow D). Once authenticated and/orvalidated, the broker 14 may allocate a spectrum use certificate to oneor more of the user systems 18 upon request. The user system 18, whichincludes the certificate agent 20, may then operate in accordance withthe spectrum use certificate provided by the broker 14.

Spectrum sniffers 26 deployed in the service area may provideinformation about spectrum use and compliance with certificates (arrowE). The broker 14 also may provide information to the spectrum holdersystem 22 by way of a report 28. The information may include statisticaldata, data for billing or other uses, and alarms if unauthorized use isdetected (arrows Fa and Fb). The user systems 18 also may directinformation to the spectrum holder system 22 or vice versa (arrow Fc).

With additional reference to FIG. 5, shown is another embodiment of theexemplary system 12 for transferring spectrum use rights. In theembodiment of FIG. 5, the configuration and operation of the system 12are similar to the configuration and operation of the system 12 of FIG.4, but no spectrum holder system 22 is present. Like component referencenumbers and arrow designations are used for similar items appearing inboth FIGS. 4 and 5.

The broker 12 may be aware of any regulatory constraints on the spectrum(arrow B). Current spectrum current utilization may be reported byspectrum sniffers 26 (arrow E). One or more user systems 18 may beauthenticated and/or validated by the broker 14 (arrow C) and, onceauthenticated/validated, the user(s) 18 may request and receive aspectrum use certificate (arrow D). The certificate may be based on therequest, current spectrum use of the user system 18 and/or predicted useof the user system 18, as well as operational requirements of the usersystem 18. The broker 14 may collect and store data, such as statisticaldata for monitoring the performance of the system 12 (arrow Fa). Also,data may be provided to the user systems 14 or vice versa (arrow Fc).The data may be stored in the form of one or more reports 18.

For the embodiment of both FIGS. 4 and 5, it will be appreciated thatthe spectrum holder system 22 (if present), the broker 14, the usersystems 18, and the spectrum sniffers 26 may be implemented with anysuitable hardware platform. For instance, the spectrum holder system 22and the broker 14 may respectively include a computing device, such as aserver, that executes logical instructions (e.g., software or code) thatimplement the functions described herein. Thus, the respective hardwareplatforms may have a memory for storing the software and a processor forexecuting the software. Such software may be stored in a computer ormachine readable medium. Such functionality could also be carried outvia dedicated hardware, firmware, software, or combinations thereof. Thereports may be formatted any suitable database structure and may bestored by a memory.

C. Obtaining and Policing a Spectrum Certificate

The techniques of brokering spectrum set forth in sub-section B, above,may have appeal to spectrum holders and/or spectrum users. As anexample, an exemplary spectrum holder may be a cellular carrier that maywish to enter into an arrangement with other spectrum holders with thegoal of maximizing spectrum utilization and maximizing value from thecollective spectrum. This secondary use may be considered to bedifferent from the secondary use that is currently defined by the FCC inthat there is no specific constraint on the use of the spectrum. Butthis exemplary secondary use arrangement or other secondary usearrangements that may be established using the system 12 may generateconcerns by the spectrum holder(s). For instance, a holder may have theperception that the brokering of spectrum may decrease the spectrum'svalue if the use is not effectively coordinated and controlled. Butspectrum holders have fixed operating costs related to their spectrum,whether the spectrum is used or not. Thus, an increase in theutilization of the spectrum by brokering the spectrum has potential toincrease the value of the spectrum to the spectrum holder. Thissub-section introduces concepts related to the coordination and controlof spectrum use.

The radio 16 with certificate agent 20 may form part of a wirelesscommunication network. The radio 16 may be embodied, for example, as acellular telephone communications point (e.g., cell site), a basestation, a wireless access point, a communications device, a networkdevice, or other component. As indicated, any type of radio 16 mayinclude the certificate agent 20. The certificate agent 20 may beconfigured to ensure that the associated radio 16 abides by rules andregulations that are defined for spectrum.

In one embodiment, the certificate agent 20 may be a logical entity thatpreferably resides in firmware of the radio. Alternatively, thecertificate agent 20 may be executable code or software that is executedby a processor (not shown) of the radio 16. The certificate agent 20 maybe associated with a unique equipment identity of the radio 16. Theequipment identity is a new construct, but may be similar to a mediaaccess control (MAC) address. The unique equipment identity for anassociated certificate agent 20 may be recognizable by the broker 14.The certificate agent 20, or aspects of the certificate agent 20, may beencrypted or have other security features to minimize unauthorizedmodification or cloning.

The broker 14 may be configured to establish a “trust” with thecertificate agent 16 in order for the radio 16 (and/or certificate agent20) to be granted a spectrum certificate. Thus, an action of thecertificate agent 20 may be to request authorization and validation bythe broker 14. In one embodiment, the relationship between the radio 16and the broker 14 may be established as part as a spectrum sharingagreement. The trust relationship facilitates an expectation that atrusted agent is to abide by the constraints associated with thecertificate. An exemplary mechanism for trust establishment may be ashared secret key. As will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill inthe art, other appropriate mechanisms that allow devices to beauthenticated and/or validated exist and may be used as part of thetrust establishment.

As a precursor to obtaining a spectrum certificate, the certificateagent 20 may have to provide certain information to the broker 14. Theinformation may include, but is not limited to identification ofspectral masks that the associated radio 16 can support, identificationof protocols the associated radio 16 can support, a current location ofthe associated radio 16, an antenna configuration and/or power of theassociated radio 16, a service request, and a grade of service. Theservice request may specify parameters such as quality of service (QOS),a duration, etc.

The provided information may be constrained by the capabilities of theradio 16. For example, legacy radios may provide limited options,whereas next generation cognitive radios may provide flexible and/ormultiple options. Exemplary options are described in more detail below.

Once authenticated and validated, the radio 16, or the spectrum usersystem 18 depending on the network topology, may make a spectrum requestto the broker 14. In response, the broker 14 may approve or deny thespectrum request. The broker 14 also may be configured to provide analternative spectral use suggestion to the radio 16.

If the spectrum request is approved, the broker 14 may provide aspectrum certificate that includes, but is not limited to a spectralmask (e.g., the frequency-based spectral mask), duration of thecertificate (e.g., the time window), location constraints (e.g., thegeography-based emission mask), and a power limit or limits (e.g., thetransmitted power limit). The spectral mask may include a centerfrequency and/or a frequency range, for example.

The broker 14 also may have an additional capability, which is describedas an exception handler to allow a higher priority user to preempt alower priority user. When a certificate is to be preempted by a higherpriority user, such as a public safety user or the spectrum holder, theexception handler of the broker 14 may be configured to rescind thecertificate.

Spectrum may be provided to the broker 14 by the spectrum holder system22 in the form of a spectrum offer or as a spectrum commodity item. Inthis manner, the broker 14 may “acquire” spectrum to offer to usersystems 18.

With additional reference to FIG. 6, an exemplary system 12′ fortransferring spectrum use rights is shown. The components of theexemplary system 12′ may form part of the exemplary system 12 of FIG. 4.Accordingly, like component reference numbers are used for similar itemsappearing in FIGS. 4 and 6. While the illustrated architecture for thesystem 12′ is not the only implementation, it is thought to berelatively efficient.

According to the exemplary system 12′ of FIG. 6, a spectrum analysissystem 30 may function to provide a first spectrum holder system 22 awith information about the utilization of spectrum fragments in terms oftime, space (e.g., geography) and frequency (arrow G). The spectrumholder system 22 a may use this information to create offers of spectrumfragments to the broker 14 (arrow H) in the form of spectrum commodityitems.

The broker 14, in turn, may provide spectrum certificates correspondingto the spectrum commodity items to a second spectrum holder system 22 b(acting as a user system 18) or some other user system 18 to enable usea corresponding spectrum fragment or fragments (arrow I). The secondspectrum holder system 22 b may include the certificate agent 20. Averification and policing system 32 may function to monitor that thesecond spectrum holder system 22 b or other user 18 abides by theconditions of the spectrum certificate and provide feedback to thespectrum holders 22 and/or the broker 14 (arrows Ja, Jb and Jc).

With additional reference to FIG. 7, shown is an exemplary protocolbetween the certificate agent 20 and the broker system 14. As part ofthe protocol, data, signals and/or messages may be exchanged between thecertificate agent 20 and the broker 14. In one embodiment, protocolmessages between the certificate agent 20 and the broker 14 conform to alanguage, which may be, or may be similar to, XML or meta language.

Under the protocol, the certificate agent 20 may be configured to knowthe identity of the broker 14 and how to locate the broker 14 over anetwork, such as the Internet or a private network. Knowledge of theidentity of the broker 14 and how to locate the broker 14 may beaccomplished through normal contractual agreements, such as a spectrumsharing agreement or other mechanisms to provide this information.

The protocol may include and authentication request (arrow K). Once thecertificate agent 20 has located the broker 14, the certificate agent 24may identify itself and initiate an authentication process with anauthentication request.

Thereafter, the protocol may include a validation process (arrows La andLb). Using a known mechanism, such as shared secret key, the broker 14may authenticate and validate the certificate agent 20.

The protocol may include an authenticated ID (arrow M). For example, thecertificate agent 20 may provide an identity value (e.g., theaforementioned equipment identity) to the broker 14 for all or certaincommunications with the broker 14. The identity value is unique to theradio 20 (or possibly a group of radios 16 of the spectrum user system18).

The protocol may include a certificate request (arrow N), which mayinclude the above described information provided by the certificateagent 20 to the broker 14. In one embodiment, the certificate requestmay be in the form of a request for a specific spectrum commodity item,such as bid that includes or does not include a monetary or non-monetaryconsideration component. The certificate request may take on the formset forth in the following pseudo-code listing 1.

Pseudo-Code Listing 1 <Agent-Broker-request><identity>authenticated-identity <Query> request for spectrumcertificate <Spectral-mask-list>{list of spectral masks and centerfrequencies the radio can support} <protocol><transmit-characteristics><max transmit power/><antenna configuration/>or <geographic footprint> <location> gps-coordinates <service request>{QOS, Duration, data rate, etc.} <bid> price the agent is willing to pay

The identity portion of the certificate request may be the same identitythat is validated in the authentication process, thereby allowing thebroker 14 to know that the certificate agent 20 is to be trusted.

The spectral mask list portion of the certificate request may be a listof the different spectral masks that the radio 16 may adopt and thecenter frequencies on which it may operate those spectral masks.

The protocol portion of the certificate request may define the type ofuse the radio 16 will be using, such as carrier sense multiple access(CSMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), orthogonalfrequency-division multiplexing (OFDM), etc. Protocol information allowsthe broker 14 to determine the type and spread of “interference theradio will generate,” as well as to potentially police the use ofspectrum under the spectrum certificate.

The transmit characteristics portion of the protocol request maydescribe the power output and transmission pattern of the radio 16 sothe broker may gauge the broadcast range of the energy transmitted bythe radio 16.

The location portion of the certificate request is the location orlocations in which the radio 16 will operate. Alternatively, thelocation may be described by requesting a geographic footprint.

The service request portion of the certificate request is a request thatthe spectrum allows for certain user characteristics to be supported,such as QOS and time duration.

The grade of service portion of the certificate request is theidentification of the type of user service requested.

The bid portion of the certificate request is a price that theunderlying spectrum user is willing to pay for use of the spectrum. Theprice may be or may not be a financial consideration.

The protocol may include a spectrum certificate (arrow O), which maytake on the form set forth in the following pseudo-code listing 2.

Pseudo-Code Listing 2 <Broker-Agent-response> <Certificate ID>certificate id <Duration> time <Spectral-mask>spectral mask and centerfrequencies the radio is allowed to operate on<transmit-characteristics><max transmit power/><antenna configuration/><location> gps-coordinates </ Broker-Agent-response >

The certificate ID portion of the spectrum certificate may be atime-stamped unique identity that may be uniquely used for thetransaction (e.g., this spectrum use certification).

The duration portion of the certificate may be a length of time (fromthe time-stamped certificate ID) that the certificate is valid and maybe set forth in terms of a time window, for example. In one embodiment,the duration is provided in units of time (e.g., seconds or minutes) sothat there may not be a need for synchronized clocks between the broker14 and the certificate agent 20.

The spectral mask and transmit characteristics portions of thecertificate may define the transmission parameters for the radio 16 andmay be set forth in terms of a frequency-based spectral mask, forexample. The transmit characteristics also may include a transmittedpower limit, for example.

The location portion of the certificate is a boundary or geographic areawithin which the certificate is valid and may be set forth in terms of ageography-based emission mask, for example. Should the radio 16 physicalstray outside the area defined by the location portion of thecertificate or transmit an amount of radiation outside the area definedby the location portion of the certificate, the certificate may becomeinvalid.

The protocol may include a certificate override (arrow P), which maytake on the form set forth in the following pseudo-code listing 3.

Pseudo-Code Listing 3 <Broker-Agent-Request> <Certificate> certificateid <rationale> reason(s) for recanting the certificate

The rationale portion of the certificate override may be provided formanagement purposes so that the radio 16 is informed of why the radio 16is being vacated from the spectrum corresponding to the spectrumcertificate.

With additional reference to FIG. 8, shown is an exemplary protocolbetween the holder system 22 and the broker 14 as part of which thebroker 14 may “acquire” spectrum from the spectrum holder system 22 tooffer to the user system(s) 18. Spectrum may be made available from aspectrum holder in the form of a spectrum commodity item that may, inturn, form a spectrum offer, as described below. The spectrum holdersystem 22 may make multiple offers and for multiple durations. In turn,the broker 14 may make these spectrum allocations available to usersystems 18 (e.g., the radios 16 of the user systems 18) through themechanisms described in this document. The broker 14 may provideinformation back to the holder system 22 about the utilization of thespectrum in the form of one or more acceptance messages. There may bemore than one acceptance message for a given spectrum commodity item orassociated offer. For instance, if a spectrum commodity item is forseveral hours, a number of thirty minute spectrum certificates may beissued and each spectrum certificate may have an associated acceptancemessage.

An offer may take on the form set forth in the following pseudo-codelisting 4.

Pseudo-Code Listing 4 <Holder-Broker-offer> <Holder id> holder id, offerid <Duration> time <Spectral-mask>spectral mask and center frequenciesthe radio is allowed to operate on <transmit-characteristics><maxtransmit power/><antenna configuration/> <location> gps-coordinates<ask> value of the spectrum </ Holder-Broker-offer >

Through the offer, the spectrum fragment may be offered in the contextof time, space (e.g., geography), and frequency, as well as otheroperational components.

The holder ID portion of the offer may be the identity of the holdersystem 22 and may be used to define or determine relevantcharacteristics from the spectrum sharing agreement.

The duration portion of the offer may be a length of time for which thefragment of spectrum is being made available and may be in the form of atime window, for example.

The spectral mask and transmit characteristics portions of the offer maydefine the maximum effective isotropic radiated power (EIRP) and thewaveforms that may be used in the spectrum fragment and may be in theform of a frequency-based spectrum mask, for example. The transmitcharacteristics also may include a transmitted power limit, for example.

The location portion of the offer may be the location (e.g., geographicarea) in which this spectrum fragment is being made available and may bein the form of a geography-based emission mask, for example.

The ask portion of the offer may be a value, monetary or otherwise, thatthe underlying spectrum holder places on the offered spectrum fragment.

The acceptance may take on the form set forth in the followingpseudo-code listing 5.

Pseudo-Code Listing 5 < Broker-Holder-acceptance> <Holder id> holder id,offer id <Duration> time <value> value of the spectrum </Broker-Holder-acceptance >

The holder ID/offer ID portions of the acceptance correlate theacceptance back to the original offer. The rest of the data isinformational in nature and may include the value derived from thetransaction.

While not directly germane to the disclosed systems and methods, aprotocol to reconcile any transactions associated with theabove-mentioned asks and bids may be added. The protocol may include anarbitrage function to reconcile competing bids and/or asks.

D. Optimizing Use of Unlicensed Spectrum Bands in a Spectrum ConstrainedEnvironment

Around the world there are a number of unlicensed radio spectrum bands.In the United States unlicensed bands are known as industrial,scientific and medical (ISM) bands and information infrastructure (UNII)bands. These bands are open to all users provided the users comply withcertain regulations. In the U.S., these regulations are known as FCCPart 15. Traditionally, these bands have been used for microwave ovens,cordless phones, low powered wireless remote controls, and similardevices. Recently, with the advent of IEEE 802.11 these bands havebecome very popular for computer communications and mobile datacommunications activities, as well as for point-to-point andpoint-to-multipoint applications. As the number of installations andusers of these applications has increased the unlicensed spectrum bandshave become very crowded. However, much of the crowding and resultinginterference is due to inefficient use and lack of coordination.

Even in this environment, allocation of unlicensed spectrum, as a scarceresource, may be optimized. For example, the spectrum may be moreeffectively used and more predictably allocated than is conventionallyaccomplished. In one embodiment, users may be provided with a “licensed”experience in an unlicensed band. The disclosed techniques may haveapplication for a variety of types of users, but may have particularapplication for industrial and commercial users who lack dedicatedspectrum to run various applications. The system and method also mayhave application for the emerging municipal WiFi market, for example.

With additional reference to FIG. 9, shown is an exemplary system 12″for allocating unlicensed spectrum. The components of the exemplarysystem 12″ may form part of the exemplary system 12 of FIG. 5.Accordingly, like component reference numbers are used for similar itemsappearing in FIGS. 5 and 9. While the illustrated architecture for thesystem 12″ is not the only implementation, it is thought to berelatively efficient.

The system 12″ may include the broker 14, the supply analysis system 30,and a spectrum analysis function 34, each of which may be implemented insoftware, executable code, firmware, hardware and so for forth. Inaddition, user systems 18 may interface with the broker 14 to acquirespectrum to use.

As in the previously described embodiments, each user system 18 mayinclude one or more radios 16 that use spectrum. These radios 16 may beany communications device or system. One exemplary radio 16 for purposesof description is a network access point or similar type of device. Themodulation and frequency of the radios 16 are not directly germane tothe technique of allocating unlicensed spectrum, but the radios 16 mayoperate in the ISM band or UNII band under FCC Part 15, or some otherunlicensed band.

The spectrum analysis system 30 may determine, in near real time, theactual utilization of the spectrum in the band(s) of interest (e.g., theISM and UNII bands). This information may be provided to the supplyanalysis system 30. The supply analysis system 30 may accumulate thedata from the spectrum analysis function 34 and may aggregate the datato provide predictive analysis and signal identification capability. Theresults of the supply analysis system 30 are provided to the broker 14in the form of “spectrum offers.” The spectrum offers may be amulti-dimensional spectrum information set, including time (e.g. a timewindow), location (e.g., a geography-based emissions mask), frequency(e.g., a frequency-based spectral mask), and power (e.g., a transmittedpower limit). The spectrum offers may take the form of spectrumcommodity items.

The broker 14 may use the information from the spectrum offer to provideusers with a spectrum fragment (or spectrum fragments) that is availablefor use.

Because the unlicensed spectrum is freely available for use, a policingfunction may not form a part of the system. But the spectrum analysisfunction 34 may observe spectrum use to determine if new users havemoved into a spectrum fragment. Thus, some form of cooperation and/orpolicing function may be of value in a situation where some control overspectrum use may be maintained, such as on a campus or in an industrialcomplex. In this regard, the illustrated embodiment may relate to anindustrial complex, such as a port, a factory or a warehouse, but mayhave application in a wide variety of other environments, such as aschool, a college campus, a military base, a municipality, etc.

The broker 14 may preside over a predetermined geographic area in whichthe user system(s) 18 may operate. Broker-to-broker interaction tocoordinate spectrum use between or among adjacent geographic areas ispossible.

The broker 14 serves user system(s) 18 in the geographic area. Forinstance, the user system(s) may be or may include wireless networkaccess points that may operate in the unlicensed spectrum band(s) ofinterest, such as the ISM and UNII bands.

The user systems 18 may make requests of the broker 14 (e.g., in asimilar fashion to the requests described in the preceding sub-sections)for spectrum that is clear enough of use and/or interference to meetoperational expectations or needs of the user system 18. In oneembodiment, the user system 18 may be likely to request a 10 MHz or a 20MHz segment with an FCC Part 15 mask, for example. The broker 14 may useinformation provided by a supply analysis system 30 to provide therequesting user with a center frequency and spectral mask that may beused at the location of the user system 18. Based on the informationfrom the broker 14, the user system 18 may expect to have predictableservice from the spectrum fragment for a length of time specified by thebroker 14.

Knowledge of spectrum fragment availability may be generated from theoperation of the spectrum analysis function 34 (also referred to as aspectral analysis function) and the supply analysis function 30.Spectrum analysis may be a distributed function. In one embodiment,there may be spectrum sniffers 26 or other types of sensors, includingradios 16 of the user system(s) 18, distributed around the geographicarea so that a broad and accurate measurement of spectrum use may beobtained.

Spectrum analysis sniffers 26 may be implemented in small, simple, andlow cost packages so that many sniffers 26 may be economicallydistributed around the geographic area. The sniffers 26 may receiveoperational power from any suitable source, such as batteries, solarpower and/or utility power. The sniffers 26 may wirelessly communicatewith a host of the supply analysis system 30. Spectral analysis may bedirected to real time (or near real time) data collection of spectraloccupancy in the bands of interest, but historical data collection maybe possible. Spectral analysis may be carried out by measuring power inthe band(s) of interest.

The supply analysis system 30 may be centrally hosted. There may stillbe a many-to-one relationship between the supply analysis system 30 andthe broker 14. The supply analysis system 30 may aggregate spectrumoccupancy data over time and carry out predictive analysis. Predictiveanalysis results may be supplied to the broker 14. The predictiveanalysis may be configured to predict what spectrum fragments may befree at specific times and for how long. The supply analysis system 30also may carry out a signal identification function and supply signalidentification results to the broker 14. The signal identificationfunction may be configured to determine the kinds of devices that areusing various spectrum fragments and the modulations that are used.

E. Detailed Spectrum Brokering Implementation E(1). System Overview

With additional reference to FIG. 10, illustrated is an exemplary systemfor transferring spectrum use rights and will be referred to as aspectrum brokering system 100. While different reference numerals areused to describe the components of the system 100 and theabove-described systems 12, 12′ and 12″, it will be apparent that thereare similarities among these systems. Therefore, components and/orfunctionality from one of the systems may be used in different systems.

The system 100 may include one or more spectrum user systems 102, one ormore spectrum holder systems 104, and a spectrum broker system 106. Anexemplary software architecture for the spectrum user system 102 isillustrated in FIG. 11, an exemplary software architecture for thespectrum holder system 104 is illustrated in FIG. 12 and an exemplarysoftware architecture for the spectrum broker system 106 is illustratedin FIG. 13.

The system 100 may include, for example, multiple spectrum user systems102 (e.g., in FIG. 10 there are at least three exemplary spectrum usersystems 102, respectively identified by reference numerals 102 a, 102 band 102 n) and a single spectrum holder system 104. In anotherembodiment, the system 100 may include a single spectrum user system 102and multiple spectrum holder systems 104 (e.g., there are at least threeexemplary spectrum holder systems 104 in the illustrated embodiment thatare respectively identified by reference numerals 104 a, 104 b and 104n). In another embodiment, the system 100 may include multiple spectrumuser systems 102 and multiple spectrum holder systems 104. Inembodiments when multiple user and/or holder systems are present, theusers and/or the holders may operate concurrently. In anotherembodiment, there may be one spectrum user system 102 and one spectrumholder system 104. In a special case of the embodiment with one spectrumuser system 102 and one spectrum holder system 104, the user associatedwith the spectrum user system 102 and the holder associated with thespectrum holder system 104 may be the same entity.

E(2). Spectrum User System

In the illustrated embodiment, the spectrum user system 102 is awireless network with the capability to provide broadbandtelecommunications between access points 108 and client devices 110using spectrum that is acquired from a holder(s) (e.g., for licensedspectrum) and/or is allocated to the spectrum user system 12 (e.g., forunlicensed spectrum). The access to this spectrum is for a determinedtime period, over a specified geographic area, and with a specifiedfrequency and channel bandwidth. It will be appreciated that this typeof spectrum user system 102 is merely representative. Other types ofspectrum user systems 102 may use the described techniques and,therefore, the radio equipment of the spectrum user systems 102 may bedifferent than the illustrated access points 108 and client devices 110.

The spectrum user system 102 may acquire spectrum for use by“purchasing” spectrum (e.g., acquiring a spectrum access grant) from aspectrum holder via an independent brokerage exchange (e.g., the brokersystem 106) based on an agreed-upon price or other form of value. Thespectrum user system 102 may contain hardware, software applications,and algorithms that make up the network configuration. The spectrum usersystem 102 manages the spectrum currently in use and the client devices110 using the network, and may anticipate future spectrum consumption.The spectrum user system 102 may automatically generate requests and/orbids for spectrum and transmit the requests and/or bids to the brokersystem 106. Bids for spectrum may include a price generated by thespectrum user system 102, or alternatively may be based on non-monetaryvalue.

If a request or bid is matched to available spectrum, a transaction forspectrum use rights between the matched holder system 104 and the usersystem 102 may occur. As part of settling the transaction, the spectrumuser system 102 may be issued a spectrum certificate. The spectrumcertificate grants the spectrum user system 102 with access to spectrumunder the time, location, frequency and/or power limit agreed upon inthe transaction, By controlling at least these criteria, the user system102 may be considered to have been granted access to spectrum underrules (e.g., government regulations, service rules, regulatory rulesand/or holder imposed restrictions) associated with the spectrum. Thespectrum user system 102 may monitor itself and vacate the spectrum uponexpiration of the time period or if the spectrum user system 102receives a violation alarm from the broker system 106 (or other system,such as the spectrum holder system 104) for breaking one or moreconditions or rules of the transaction. As indicated, the spectrumcertificate may include one or more of a time window, a frequency-basedspectral mask, a geography-based emission mask and a transmitted powerlimit.

To implement the above-described transaction and other network functionsof the spectrum user system 102, the spectrum user system 102 mayinclude a management system 112 that oversees the access points 108. Inaddition, the spectrum user system 102 may include a broker interface114 for interacting with the broker system 106 and a settlement system116 that manages monetary and/or non-monetary spectrum transactions.

With additional reference to FIG. 11, shown is an exemplary softwarearchitecture for the spectrum user system 102. Each software componentmay be executed by a processor and/or stored by a machine readablemedium (e.g., a computer system memory and/or a computer data storagememory). The components may be executed and stored by one computersystem or distributed among multiple computer systems.

The software architecture may include a broker interface application 118that may be executed by and/or stored by the broker interface 114. Thebroker interface application may transmit requests and/or bids to thebroker system 106 and may receive spectrum certificates from the brokersystem 106. Therefore, the broker interface application 118 may beresponsible for request and/or bid processing, spectrum certificateprocessing and similar processing. The broker interface application 118also may handle violation alarms, monitor spectrum offers that areposted by the broker system 106 and conduct similar operations. Inaddition, the broker interface application 118 may include a rulesengine for overseeing the placement of requests or bids for spectrum.

The broker interface application 118 may interface with a managementapplication 120 that is executed by and/or stored by the managementsystem 112. In one embodiment, requests and/or bids for spectrum mayoriginate from the management application 120, which are passed to thebroker interface application 118. Spectrum certificates that arereceived by the broker interface application 118 may be forwarded to themanagement application 120.

In addition, spectrum certificates that are received by the brokerinterface application 118 may be forwarded to a settlement application122 that is executed by or stored by the settlement system 116. Thesettlement application 122 may include a transaction database and maymatch spectrum certificates to payments to satisfy any monetary ornon-monetary consideration that is owed based on the placement of awinning bid for a spectrum commodity item.

The management application 120 may include a demand application 124 thatdetermines a current need for spectrum by the spectrum user system 102and/or a predicted need for spectrum in the future by the spectrum usersystem 102. For instance, the demand application 124 may include a usageengine 126 that monitors and determines a current demand for spectrumand that monitors and/or determines a current spectrum supply. Inresponse to spectrum needs, the usage engine 126 may generate a requestor bid for spectrum. In addition, the demand application 124 may includea predictive engine 128 that monitors historical usage data, historicalconstraints on spectrum usage, historical bandwidth availability andother data sets that may be used by the usage engine 126 in predictingfuture spectrum demand for which the usage engine 126 may generaterequests and/or bids for spectrum.

The management application 120 also may coordinate any incoming alarmsto a possible violation of one or more spectrum certificates. Inresponse to an alarm, the management application 120 may take remedialaction such as discontinue operation under the combination oftransmission criteria set forth by the spectrum certificate or modifytransmission parameters to comply with the spectrum certificate.

The management application 120 also may include a three-dimensionalmapping application to oversee use of spectrum with respect to ageographical area. For instance, the three-dimensional mappingapplication may maintain global positioning satellite (GPS) data forradio devices operating within the spectrum user system 102. Thethree-dimensional mapping application may further include collectingand/or maintaining access point 108 radio configuration data, geographicconstraint information of spectrum certificates, and time windowconstraints associated with spectrum certificates.

Received spectrum certificates may be forwarded from the managementapplication 120 to the access points 108 or other radios operatingwithin the spectrum user system 102. More particularly, the spectrumcertificates may be passed to certificate agents 20 of the radiosoperating within the spectrum user system 102 so as to obligate theradios to operate within the constraints specified by the spectrumcertificate. It will be appreciated, that the radios may simultaneouslyoperate in accordance with multiple spectrum certificates, or inaccordance with at least one spectrum certificate and any additionalauthorized spectrum (e.g., unlicensed spectrum or spectrum for which theunderlying user entity of the spectrum user system 102 is a holderentity).

In one embodiment, the access point 108, or other radio of the spectrumuser system 102, executes and/or stores a radio application 130. Theradio application 130 may include the certificate agent 20. The radioapplication 130 may further include a GPS location module 132, amanagement application programming interface (APi) module 134, a clientaccess module 136 and a radio software module 138. The GPS locationmodule 132 may be responsible for maintaining application data,executing location services and providing NIST conversion, among otherfunctions. The management application programming interface module 134may function as a simple network management protocol (SNMP) agent, maybe responsible for overall configuration, may maintain various hooksincluding diagnostic hooks, client demand hooks, bandwidth request hooksand over-the-air (OTA) hooks, and other similar functions. The clientaccess module 136 may be responsible for a network application layer. Inaddition, the client access module 136 may maintain client associationsand provide for roaming services. The radio software module 138 may beresponsible for radio configurations, media access control (MAC), a linklayer and other functions.

The client devices 110, or other radios within the spectrum user system102, may execute and/or store a client device application 140. Theclient device application 140 may include a certificate agent 20, asdescribed above in greater detail. The client device application 140also may include a management APi module 142, a radio software module144 and a host interface module 146. The management APi module 142 mayinclude an SNMP agent and various hooks such as diagnostic hooks and anOTA configuration hook. The radio software module 144 may be responsiblefor radio configuration, media access control, a link layer, beaconscan/association, roaming and other functions. The host interface module146 may be responsible for user interface functions and input/outputfunctions, such as a universal serial bus (USB) interface and anyassociated drivers.

E(3). Spectrum Holder System

The spectrum holder system 104 allows an associated holder of spectrumto “sell” (e.g., temporarily release spectrum use rights) its spectrumto users for a determined time period, in a specific geographic area,and at a specific frequency and channel bandwidth. The spectrum holdersystem 104 may include radio frequency (RF) sensors 148 deployed over ageographic area to detect RF energy over a range of frequencies. Thedata from the sensors 148 are sent over corresponding RF links to aspectrum holder network management system 150 for processing. Thespectrum holder system 150 analyzes the data to determine 1) spectrumthat is in use, 2) spectrum that is not in use, 3) the location of theused and unused spectrum, 4) the location and frequency of unauthorizeduser(s), and 5) predicted use of the holder's spectrum. Also, the use orpredicted use may be compared with the spectrum rules and guidelines.Further, a determination of other environmental and operationalconstraints, (e.g., geographic constraints, interference constraints,regulatory constraints, usage constraints, etc.) that impact the use ofthe spectrum may be made.

In addition to the use of sensors 148 or instead of the use of sensors148, radio devices operating in the geographic area may report onspectrum usage and provide all or some of the information for policingspectrum use and/or generating spectrum commodity items. As part of thisoperation, a radio network may be used to determine interferenceamounts, noise amounts, and other parameters, and to report thisinformation to the management system 150.

In one embodiment, the information collected by the sensors 148 and/ornetwork radio devices may be transmitted to a sensor transceiver 152that forwards the information to a spectrum database 154 that collectsand organizes the information. A spectrum analysis system 156 and/or apolicing/alarm system 158 may analyze the information for variousoperations of the management system 150, including the generation ofspectrum commodity items, the generation of offers and/or policing ofissued spectrum certificates. In other embodiments, some of all of theseoperations may be hosted by a different system, such as the brokersystem 106.

Based on an amount of unused, soon-to-be unused spectrum orpredicted-to-be unused spectrum, the spectrum holder system 104 maygenerate a spectrum availability report. From the information in thereport, spectrum commodity items and/or spectrum offers may be generatedand communicated to the broker exchange system 106 for trading on thebroker exchange system 106. As part of this process, the spectrum holdersystem 104 may provide an ask price for the available spectrum and thetime (e.g., a time window), the location (e.g., a geography-basedemission mask), the frequency (e.g., a frequency-based spectral mask)and/or a power component (e.g., a transmitted power limit) of thespectrum along with any guidelines or rules imposed by the spectrumholder system 104.

Upon the matching of the holder's spectrum to spectrum needs of a user,the transaction is logged and, if payment is due, a certificate isreceived from the broker system 106 for payment from the buyer (e.g.,one of the spectrum user systems 102). The holder system 104 also mayclear the matched spectrum for use, which may include operating inaccordance with a spectrum certificate that is issued back to thespectrum holder system 104 to preclude use of the spectrum for whichaccess has been granted to the spectrum user system 102. This type ofspectrum certificate may be internally created by the spectrum holder104 or created by the broker system 106, and may be referred to as areverse spectrum certificate. Radio equipment of the spectrum holdersystem 104 may include a certificate agent 20 to conform communicationsto the constraints established by the reverse spectrum certificate.

For these purposes, the spectrum holder system 104 may include a brokerinterface 160 for interacting with the broker system 106 and atransaction settlement system 162. As indicated, the spectrum holdersystem 104 may include a policing and alarm function that generates analarm to the broker system 106 and/or the spectrum user system 102 if anunauthorized user or violation of guidelines is detected via the sensorsor radio devices, such as unauthorized spectrum use outside the time,location, frequency and/or power limit that the user “purchased.” Thepolicing may include self policing of communications activity of thespectrum holder system 104.

With additional reference to FIG. 12, shown is an exemplary systemarchitecture for the spectrum holder system 104. Each software componentmay be executed by a processor and/or stored by a machine readablemedium (e.g., a computer system memory and/or a computer data storagememory). The components may be executed and stored by one computersystem or distributed among multiple computer systems.

The broker interface 164 may execute and/or store a broker interfaceapplication 164 for interfacing with the broker system 106. For example,offers and/or spectrum commodity items may be transmitted from thebroker interface application 164 to the broker system 106. Also, thebroker interface application 164 may receive copies of spectrumcertificates that are issued to spectrum user systems 102.

The settlement system 162 may execute and/or store a settlementapplication 166. The settlement application 166 may receive paymentinformation from the broker system 106 or from another source, such asthe spectrum user system 102 or a third party.

The broker interface application 164 may manage offers, spectrumcommodity items, spectrum certificates, violations and/or alarms, andother information that is exchanged with the broker system 106. Inaddition, the broker interface application 164 may monitor spectrum bidsfrom spectrum user systems 102 that are posted by the broker system 106.The broker interface application 164 also may be responsible formaintaining a rules engine.

The broker interface application 164 may communicate with a managementapplication 168 that is executed by and/or stored by the managementsystem 150. For instance, the broker interface application 164 mayforward spectrum certificates to the management application 168 andreceive offers and/or spectrum commodity items from the managementapplication 168 for forwarding to the broker system 106. The brokerinterface application 164 also may forward spectrum certificates to apolicing/alarm application 170 that is executed and/or stored by thepolicing/alarm system 158. Alarms may be communicated from thepolicing/alarm application 170 to the broker interface application 164.

The management application 168 may forward spectrum certificates to thesettlement application 166 and to a spectrum analysis engine 172. In oneembodiment, the spectrum analysis engine 172 also may be executed byand/or stored by the management system 150 or a subcomponent thereof,such as the spectrum analysis system 156. The management application 168may include a three-dimensional map application for managing GPS data,radio location information, network configuration data, spectrumcertificate time data and similar information. The managementapplication 168 also may manage spectrum offers.

The management system 150 may include a spectrum rules database and/orengine 174 that maintains, collects and processes information regardingRF metrics, guard bands, time information and location information. Inaddition, the spectrum rules database and/or engine 174 may manage rulesfor spectrum use, including rules established by the spectrum holdersystem 104 and/or by government regulation. Information from thespectrum rules database and/or engine 174 may be communicated to thepolicing/alarm application 170, the spectrum analysis engine 172 and anyother appropriate component.

The policing/alarm application 170 may include functionality to processrules against data regarding spectrum usage to monitor compliance withspectrum certificates that are issued to one or more of the spectrumuser systems 102. The policing/alarm application 170 may further includereporting functions.

The spectrum analysis function 172 may generate spectrum commodity itemsand/or spectrum offers. To support this function, the spectrum analysisfunction 172 may include a spectrum database module 176, spectrumavailability algorithms 178 and a spectrum data and sensor data manager180. The spectrum database module 176 may store information regardinghistorical and current spectrum use and related information for use inthe generation of spectrum commodity items and/or spectrum offers. Thespectrum availability algorithms 178 may include a usage engine and apredictive engine to analyze spectrum use information as part of thegeneration of spectrum offers and/or spectrum commodity items. Spectrumoffers and/or spectrum commodity items that are generated by thespectrum analysis engine 172 may be forwarded to the managementapplication 168 for further processing and forwarding to the brokerinterface application 164. The usage engine of the spectrum availabilityalgorithms 178 may analyze current spectrum demand and current spectrumsupply to identify spectrum that may be made available for use by usersystems 102. The predictive engine of the spectrum availabilityalgorithms 178 may analyze historical usage data, historical spectrumconstraints, historical bandwidth availability, and information aboutknown future spectrum usage, for example, to generate a prediction ofspectrum that may be available in the future for use by user systems102. The spectrum data and sensor data manager 180 may monitor powerlevels, channel size, location information and other informationregarding current spectrum use.

The sensor transceiver 152 may execute and/or store a sensor transceiverapplication 182 that embodies a radio configuration function, powermanagement function and media access control functions, as well as anyother functions that may be related to the sensor transceiver 152. Inone embodiment, the sensor transceiver 152 may be an ISM transceiverradio.

Each sensor 148 may execute and/or store a sensor application 184 thatembodies the functions of the sensor 148. For example, the sensorapplication 184 may include software that enables a wideband receiver ofthe sensor 148 to scan spectrum usage. The sensor application 184 mayundertake other tasks, such as radio configuration, managementprocessing and data formatting of collected spectrum information, OTAconfiguration, SNMP management, and so forth.

E(4). Broker Exchange System

The broker system 106 provides an exchange for spectrum holders to“sell” (e.g., temporarily transfer spectrum use rights) spectrum tospectrum users based on a market price (e.g., monetary consideration),other economic consideration, or non-economic benefit or value. Thebroker system 106 is a real-time exchange that, in one embodiment,matches offers of spectrum from one or more spectrum holder systems 104to bids for spectrum from one or more spectrum user systems 102. Thebroker system 102 provides a real-time “book” for holders and users tomonitor the spectrum that is available for sale and the current bids andasks for that spectrum. The asks and bids may correspond to spectrumthat is currently available or desired, or may correspond to futurespectrum usage. An offer may define associated spectrum using a spectrumcommodity item.

The broker system 106 may include an expert system that, based onmatching rules and heuristic algorithms, matches spectrum needs withavailable spectrum. Unless restricted by rules generated by the spectrumholder system 104, the matching may include breaking down(disaggregating) spectrum that a holder indicates is available for useby others and/or the matching may involve aggregating spectrum frommultiple sources. The matching may be performed to fulfill user spectrumbandwidth needs while minimizing costs to the user and/or maximizingvalue to the holder. In this regard, the matching rules of the expertsystem may address the considerations discussed in section A(3) of thisdocument (e.g., regulatory rule compliance, holder-generated rulecompliance, user radio equipment capability and/or certification, usersintended application, etc.). Also, the matching rules of the expertsystem may address market forces by matching spectrum demand withavailable spectrum based on market prices or other market-based valuefor spectrum, as specified in spectrum bids and offers. Underlying thematching process may be an extraction of data from the components ofspectrum commodity items, spectrum offers, spectrum request and/orspectrum bids that are communicated to or are generated by the brokersystem 106.

The broker system 106 receives offers for the “sale” of spectrum fromone or more spectrum holder systems 104 and/or spectrum commodity itemsfrom one or more spectrum holder systems 104 and, using a matchingengine, may aggregate or partition that spectrum to match the needs ofusers. The broker system 106 reports market data to holders and usersthrough the book, which is available to all spectrum user systems 102and spectrum holder systems 104, and shows the bid and ask prices andthe spectrum associated with the bid and ask processes. The associatedspectrum may be reported in the form a spectrum commodity item or insome other manner that sets forth the location of the availablespectrum, the frequency characteristics of the spectrum, the time ofavailability of the spectrum, the guidelines and rules for the spectrumand any other pertinent information. This information may be used bycomputer-implemented logic to sell and/or acquire spectrum, and may bemade available to human traders or market makers and/or to automatedtraders or market makers.

When a bid and an offer (or ask) are matched for a determined portion ofspectrum, the broker system 106 may log the transaction and may issue aspectrum certificate to each of the spectrum holder system 106 andspectrum user system 102 as a receipt for the transaction. The brokersystem 106 may then generate a bill and clear the transaction (alsoreferred to as a “sale” or a “trade”). The broker system 106 maygenerate a real-time usage map based on the issued spectrum certificatesand provides this information to both the spectrum user system 102 andthe spectrum holder system 106. The usage map may be displayed forobservation by a human operator.

The broker system 106 may accept alarms from the spectrum holder system104 for violations of spectrum use rules and may, in turn, issue analarm to the spectrum user system 102 (or specific radio device ordevices) that caused the violation. The broker system 106 may have theability to terminate spectrum use rights in the event of a violation asa term or condition of the transaction, and/or impose other sanctions,penalties or fines on the spectrum user. In another embodiment, thebroker system 106 may monitor spectrum usage and generate alarms fornon-compliance with spectrum certificates.

Referring to FIG. 13, shown is an exemplary software architecture forthe broker system 106. Each software component may be executed by aprocessor and/or stored by a machine readable medium (e.g., a computersystem memory and/or a computer data storage memory). The components maybe executed and stored by one computer system or distributed amongmultiple computer systems.

A user interface application 186 may manage communications with thespectrum user systems 102. For example, the user interface application168 may receive requests for spectrum and/or bids for spectrum from thespectrum user systems 102. Also, the user interface application 186 maytransmit spectrum certificates, alarms and any other relevantinformation to the spectrum user systems 102. Similarly, a holderinterface application 188 may coordinate communication with the spectrumholder systems 104. For example the holder interface application 188 mayreceive offers and/or spectrum commodity items from the spectrum holdersystems 104. Also, the holder interface application 188 may receivealarms or other information from the spectrum holder systems 104. Theholder interface application 188 may transmit copies of spectrumcertificates to the spectrum holder systems 104 and forward othertransactional information or data, including payment information, to thespectrum holder systems 104.

The user interface application 186 may forward spectrum requests and/orspectrum bids to a broker exchange engine 190. Also, the holderinterface application 188 may forward spectrum offers and/or spectrumcommodity items to the broker exchange engine 190. Spectrum certificatesmay be forwarded to the user interface application 186 and the holderinterface application 188.

The broker exchange engine 190 may communicate with or include a varietyof sub-modules. For example, a matching engine 192 may include theabove-mentioned expert system. The matching engine 192 may useinformation received from the spectrum user system 102 and the spectrumholder system 104 (e.g., spectrum requests, spectrum bids, spectrumoffers and/or spectrum commodity items) to match desired spectrum withavailable spectrum. The matching engine 193 may directly match spectrumrequests and/or spectrum bids with spectrum offers and/or spectrumcommodity items. In other embodiments, the matching engine 192 mayconsolidate multiple spectrum offers and/or spectrum commodity items formatching to one or more spectrum requests and/or spectrum bids. In stillother embodiments, the matching engine 192 may partition spectrumrequests, spectrum bids, spectrum offers and/or spectrum commodity itemsto formulate matches between spectrum demand and spectrum availability.These functions may be facilitated by a supply/demand engine 194 thatcarries out spectrum partitioning and/or spectrum aggregation.

The matching engine 192 may forward information to a market datareporting application 194 that maintains data regarding spectrum demandand spectrum availability. This information may be accessed by thespectrum user systems 102 through the user interface application 186 andby the spectrum holder systems 104 through the holder interfaceapplication 188. The information may be maintained as a book of spectrumoffers and a book of spectrum bids, for example. The market data alsomay be reported to a usage map application 196. The usage mapapplication 196 may use geographical information associated with themarket data to map out spectrum demand and/or spectrum availability.This information may be made available to the spectrum user systems 102through the user interface application 186 and the spectrum holdersystems 104 through the holder interface application 188.

When matches between spectrum demand and spectrum availability are madeby the matching engine 192, information about the matches may be passedto a certificate generator 198. This information may be passed to thecertificate generator 198 through the market data reporting application194. The certificate generator 198 may be responsible for generatingspectrum certificates. As indicated, each spectrum certificate mayidentify spectrum that may be used by the spectrum user system 102 byvarious constraints related to, for example, time, location, frequency,RF metrics and so forth. For instance, the spectrum certificate mayinclude a time window, a frequency-based spectral mask, ageography-based emission mask and a transmitted power limit.

Information regarding any matches may be communicated to a billingapplication 200 that maintains a transaction database of spectrumcertificates and price history information. The billing application 200may forward information regarding current matches to a clearing house202 that maintains receivables and payables for the spectrum holdersystem 104 and the spectrum user system 102. Data generated by thecertificate generator 198, the billing application 200 and the clearinghouse 202 may be provided to the spectrum user system 102 and/or thespectrum holder system 104 respectively through the user interfaceapplication 186 and the holder interface application 188.

E(5). Example System Environment: Secondary Use for Backhaul

Most wireless networks are wireless in the sense that a client deviceaccess portion of the network is wireless. Examples of such networksinclude a WiFi network (e.g., a network based on the IEEE 802.11standard) and a WiMax network (e.g., a network based on the IEEE 802.16standard). But the backhaul portion of the network may be implemented ina wired technology, such as a T1/E1 service, a cable modem system, or afiber optic ring. In many instances, installing a wired network backhaulmay involve considerable effort, financial investment, resources andenvironmental impact. For example, installing a wired network backhaulmay involve digging a trench in the ground to add wired capacity. Also,WiFi and WiMax networks may best operate with backhaul speeds greaterthan 10 megabits per second (Mbps) capacity, which T1/E1 services andcable modem systems may not be able to provide.

Some networks may have a wireless backhaul that is implemented using aspectrum allocation above 10 gigahertz (GHz). In the United States, thisspectrum was some of the earliest spectrum auctioned by the FCC in anattempt to create revenue. The early auction winners paid large sums forthe spectrum allocation, but failed to build a business that justifiesthe investment. As a result, most of the spectrum in this range wentthrough a bankruptcy process and was distributed across a large numberof holders. Today, the spectrum is distributed to the extent that nosingle spectrum holder has sufficient spectrum resources to deploy anationwide backhaul network. It is contemplated that similar issues maybe present in locations outside the United States.

The above-described system 100 (or the systems 12, 12′ or 12″) may beused to aggregate sufficient spectrum to establish a wireless backhaulnetwork of a desired geographic size. Spectrum from multiple holders maybe aggregated for use by one user and/or the spectrum from multipleholders may be allocated across multiple networks.

As an example, a first spectrum holder (referred to as spectrum holderA) may have excess capacity in a first city (e.g., Dallas, Tex.), butnot enough spectrum in a second city (e.g., Boston, Mass.). A secondspectrum holder (referred to as spectrum holder B) may have the oppositespectrum capacity. The broker system may allow the holders to obtainand/or provide spectrum (e.g., lease spectrum in a secondary usearrangement) so that there is sufficient spectrum supply in each marketto meet spectrum demand. In one embodiment, spectrum holder A mayprovide spectrum in Dallas to spectrum holder B in exchange forfinancial consideration or for spectrum in Boston. In anotherembodiment, a third-party that lacks spectrum in Dallas, Boston or bothmay provide service by leasing spectrum from both holders A and B, whomtogether have spare capacity in those cities.

It will also be apparent that the brokerage arrangement may allow forspectrum that was not originally licensed for backhaul services to bemade available on a secondary basis to an entity or entities that wishto provide backhaul services.

E(6). Example System Environment: Spectrum Optimization in SharedBackhaul/Access Implementation

As indicated, wireless access networks are presently being fielded. Forinstance, a municipal wireless access network may be implemented on atechnology platform, such as WiFi or WiMax. In order to achieve highuser throughput, the network may include a relatively large number ofbase stations and/or access points compared to a traditional cellularsystem. To be efficient, each base station may be in operativecommunication with a core network using some form of backhaul thatoperates at a data rate that is not easily supplied by T1/E1 or cablemodem connections. As further indicated, a wireless backhaul may beemployed to gain higher throughput for the backhaul.

In conventional networks that use a wireless backhaul and wirelessaccess, partitioning of spectrum between backhaul and access isperformed in a pseudo-static manner using RF planning tools andtechniques. Under these techniques, spectrum is allocated when thenetwork is deployed and only is changed as service demand changes.

Unfortunately, service demand is continually changing and the RFplanning tools and techniques are unable to keep up with the pace ofchange.

The spectrum brokering system 100 and/or one of the systems 12, 12′ or12″ may be used to partition spectrum in a real-time manner. The sensors148 (e.g., spectrum sniffers), radio devices in the system 100 andspectrum analysis may be used to detect spectrum bands that areunderutilized and report when the underutilized spectrum is available.Base stations and access points that could improve service to clientdevices with additional spectrum resources may request additionalspectrum from the broker system 106 or higher-level components in thespectrum user system 102. As existing certificates expire, availableresources may be reallocated across the network in an efficient mannerand/or additional spectrum may be acquired through the broker exchangesystem 106. During this process, economic and/or non-economic marketforces may drive the brokering system.

In this system environment, a wireless network service provider mayshare its spectrum resources across two parts of the network (e.g.,including access and backhaul). The relative economic value of the twoportions may be determined by the network service provider and use thesefactors as an input into the manner in which bids and asks are placed.One way to implement the analysis performed within a spectrum usersystem is to create an artificial currency and a finite-sized currencypool. Some of the currency pool may be allocated to the access portionof the network and some of the currency pool may be allocated to thebackhaul portion of the network. Then, using the finite portions of thecurrency pool, spectrum may be acquired for access operations and forbackhaul operations. In this manner, a resource constraint issue may beaddressed under a free market technique rather than by using atraditional spectrum allocation methodology that is based on performancedriven optimization.

Other competing interests for spectrum may be managed in a similarmanner. For instance, two spectrum user systems 102 that desired to useoverlapping spectrum for network access may use artificial currency froma finite-sized currency pool to allocate spectrum between the twosystems 102. As a specific example, two branches of the military (e.g.,the Navy and the Army) may compete for spectrum resources usingartificial currency.

E(7). Example System Environment: Aggregation of Spectrum

In this exemplary system environment, spectrum that is independentlyheld (e.g., licensed) is aggregated into a contiguous portion ofspectrum to improve value and reduce idle time.

Much of the radio spectrum that has been allocated under historicalapproaches has been allocated in relatively small frequency bands,especially in the ultra-high frequency (UHF) and very-high frequency(VHF) portions of the spectrum. The bands are typically wide enough forservices such as push-to-talk or voice communications, but othernetworking and data communication applications (e.g., multimediaservices) cannot be effectively accommodated in these narrowallocations. In addition, the allocated bands have limited capacity,meaning that if the bands are fully utilized, additional demand cannotbe accommodated. During a time when one band may be fully utilized,there may be one or more similar adjacent bands that are underutilizedor completely idle.

The spectrum brokering system 100 and/or the system 12, 12′ or 12″ maybe used to change the manner in which the thin slivers of spectrum areused to create more value and new business opportunities for thespectrum holders. In one approach, slivers of spectrum that have beenrespectively allocated to a variety of holders may be aggregated toproduce a wide spectrum band that has more value than the individualbands. At least a portion of the aggregated spectrum may be used by aservice provider to provide a greater volume of service (e.g., servicemore voice calls at the same time than would be possible with a smallerportion of spectrum) and/or to provide additional services, such asvideo services. Furthermore, holders of spectrum that are not utilizingall or some of their spectrum may sublease their spectrum for profit orsome other benefit.

An exemplary implementation will be described with reference to ahypothetical group of UHF and/or VHF spectrum users located in a commongeographic area. It will be appreciated that these concepts haveapplication outside the UHF and/or VHF bands. In the example, there maybe many holders of spectrum that each has a small band of the UHF and/orVHF frequencies. These bands typically have bandwidths of less than 50kilohertz (KHz). For simplicity, it will be assumed that each band inthe example has a bandwidth of 25 KHz and that each holder holds asingle band (sometimes referred to as a channel). In the example, theholders are licensees and may include, but are not limited to, a taxidispatch service, a delivery service, a building contractor and amunicipal workforce. Using their respective bands, each exemplarylicense holder may run a push-to-talk service for a relatively smallnumber of users. Depending on the size of the geographic area andlicensing regulations, these UHF and/or VHF bands may be utilized with asingle base station transceiver.

For purposes of aggregating spectrum, these exemplary license holdersmay join together in a cooperative fashion to formulate a band thatcould be more than 1 megahertz (MHz) wide. The incentive to aggregatespectrum in this manner may be to achieve a common goal, such asproviding a municipal wireless network for residents and businesses,provide a municipal service and/or to generate revenue.

In practice, the holders may contribute their respective spectrum bandsto the broker system that would treat the collection as a singlemonolithic block of spectrum for distribution in an efficient andeffective manner. It is noted that this block of spectrum may or may notbe continuous or contiguous.

With additional reference to FIG. 14, illustrated is how several users(e.g., holders A through G) might use spectrum as allocated in thehistorical manner. In this dedicated spectrum example, it may beobserved that much of the spectrum is not utilized and the allocatedbands are in arbitrary and/or small fragments.

With additional reference to FIG. 15, illustrated is the same portion ofspectrum that is illustrated in FIG. 14 and that has been reallocated bythe broker system 106. As illustrated, each spectrum holder retains aportion of spectrum for their continued use, and one or more widerportions of spectrum are made available for other services, such aswideband networking, video surveillance and so forth. In one embodiment,the spectrum has been allocated using a virtual channel approach, ratherthan fix channels that are inefficiently allocated. The allocationestablished by the broker system 106 may be dynamic and may bere-allocated based on use and/or demand.

In one embodiment, the spectrum holders have joined together as acooperative. But it is possible that financial incentives may driveparticipation in the aggregation of spectrum. For instance, a user maybe willing to financially compensate the spectrum holders for use of abroadband channel.

E(8). Example System Environment: Metropolitan Broadband Application

Recently, municipal or metro-wide broadband wireless networks have beenproposed to compete with traditional landline telephone companies,cellular telephone companies and cable internet services. The serviceproviders behind such efforts have been local governments, small scalecompanies functioning as wireless Internet service providers (WISPs),and large companies such as America Online (AOL), Google and EarthLink.The aim of these entities is often to provide low-cost or free broadbandInternet access to residents and enterprises in the target geographicarea. However, the entities attempting to establish such networkstypically do not hold sufficient wireless spectrum, if any. Attemptingto acquire spectrum licenses may be prohibitively expensive.Accordingly, many of these networks are being deployed in an unlicensedband, such as the 2.4 GHz unlicensed band known as the second ISM band.

Service providers in unlicensed bands are forced to compete with a widerange of existing wireless systems and devices that inhabit the band orthat may come into the band in the future. The competing systems anddevices include, but are not limited to, microwave ovens, cordlesstelephones, local 802.11b/g WiFi networks, and Bluetooth enableddevices. The combination of interference created by these systems anddevices as well as the propagation characteristics at 2.4 GHz may makedeployment of a wireless network challenging. Also, to get adequatecoverage and in-building signal penetration, the number of base stationsor access points per square mile may need to be high enough thatdeployment is uneconomical.

The spectrum brokering system 100 and/or the system 12, 12′ or 12″ maybe used to provide a source of cost-effective spectrum to fill theobjectives of an entity attempting to establish a broadband wirelessnetwork. In one embodiment, the spectrum used for the broadband wirelessnetwork may be less than 1 GHz, which may provide good in-buildingsignal penetration. However, almost all of the spectrum under 1 GHz hasbeen allocated and any spectrum that is available under 1 GHz istypically found in relatively narrow bands that are not suitable forbroadband applications. For instance, if it is assumed that a fairlyefficient modulation scheme of one bit per hertz (1 bit/hertz) is used,than about 5 MHz or more spectrum would be desirable.

Even though there is allocation of spectrum under 1 GHz, there may be asuitable amount of spectrum that is underutilized and that may be madeavailable under a brokerage scheme to use for a broadband wirelessnetwork that covers a specified geographic area. For example, largeportions of the 900 MHz cellular bands and the 800 MHz trunking bandsare rarely used even though they are held by private entities, such aslow-power television licenses, or the national telecommunications andinformation administration (NTIA). These spectrum holders are typicallyreluctant to give up their spectrum in case they find a future use forthe spectrum. But under a brokerage system the spectrum holders may bewilling to share spectrum. It is also contemplated that spectrum may bemade available for a broadband wireless network from a cooperative ofsmaller license holders in similar manner to the example systemenvironment described above.

In one embodiment, between about 20 MHz and about 80 MHz of spectrum maybe provided for the wireless network. With this amount of spectrum, enduser devices, base stations and access points may be implemented withoff-the-shelf technology, such as WiFi radius or WiMax radius.Off-the-shelf technology for these devices may reduce deployment costsand end-user costs. Also, reasonably high-powered transmitters (e.g., inthe range of about 500 milliwatts (mW) to about 1 Watt (W)) may be usedto establish good in-building penetration and coverage with aneconomically reasonable number of base stations or access points persquare mile. It is noted that current FCC rules regarding secondary usemay not permit such high-power devices or such types of networkdeployment. But it may be expected that FCC rules could be modified inthis area. Another potential secondary use option would beultra-wideband (UWB) technology, which is permitted at very low power soas to limit the effective range to about 10 meters.

In one embodiment, WiFi or WiMax technology combined with cooperationfrom a license holder may be used to economically deploy a wirelessnetwork across a geographic area using the spectrum brokering system 100and/or the system 12, 12′ or 12″. In one embodiment, the license holdercould be a commercial entity, such as the holder of a 700 MHz televisionlicense or a government entity (e.g., NTIA). Exemplary candidatespectrum ranges include the 300 MHz to 400 MHz range held by thegovernment, or the 698 MHz to 794 MHz range primarily used fortelevision broadcasting.

In one embodiment, the service provider of the wireless network mayenter into an agreement with the license holder or holders for asecondary use of the spectrum. The system would provide spectrumcertificates to allow operation of the wireless network. System sensors(e.g., spectrum sniffers) or radios operating within the system may beused as part of a policing function to minimize transmissions fallingoutside a predetermined boundary and to minimize interference of networkoperation with use by the primary license holder(s). The spectrum holdermay regain control of its spectrum in an orderly manner by slowlyreducing the number and/or type of certificates issued to the serviceprovider of the wireless network.

An exemplary implementation will be described where NTIA offersspectrum. The spectrum held by NTIA is typically only needed in anemergency. The spectrum made available for the secondary use may bereturned to NTIA if an emergency arises or may be returned over time ina particular geographic area. For instance, if spectrum certificates areissued for a duration less than the timeframe that it may take to returnall or part of the spectrum, then the service provider may release thespectrum in an emergency situation. It may be noted that very fewemergencies are nationwide. Therefore, an incident that leads to thereturn of spectrum may have a localized impact on the wireless network.In the event of an emergency during which spectrum may need to bereturned, the service provider may establish a backup plan to allow forlimited wireless network service to continue until the end of theemergency situation. The backup plan may include accessing alternativespectrum from another spectrum holder. This alternative spectrum mayhave a higher cost than the spectrum provided by the NTIA. Anotherbackup plan may include using spectrum in an unlicensed band, such asthe 900 MHz ISM band.

It is noted that the wireless network may be deployed without excessiveuse of spectrum. For example, under the current IEEE standard definitionfor WiFi technology, channels as narrow as 10 MHz may be used. Also,WiMax may operate in 2*1.75 megahertz channels or more.

The use of spectrum currently held by spectrum licensees or thegovernment (e.g., through an agency such as the FCC or NTIA) couldstimulate a number of WiSPs or other services. Soon use would not beconstrained to unlicensed spectrum and would not be forced to toleratesignificant and growing interference found in unlicensed bands. Licensedspectrum, in comparison, would have little or no interference. Costs tothe spectrum holder to acquire a secondary use rights would likely bemuch less than the cost to acquire spectrum holdership. In mid-2007, thecost for spectrum is about $150 million per megahertz. Assuming that theFCC, the NTIA and/or spectrum holders were to share spectrum in thedescribed manner, the spectrum can be purchased as a commodity inrelatively small, granular amounts that are based on geographiclocation, frequency and time. Thus, new services may be launched in acost effective manner and the government and/or spectrum holders wouldbe in a position to receive value in return for the spectrum. As aresult, the spectrum could become more profitable for the governmentwhile new approaches to using spectrum would be encouraged. The spectrumuse applications that commercially succeed could grow and generate morerevenue as spectrum demand grows. Conversely, unsuccessful spectrum useapplications would terminate without continuing restrictions onspectrum.

E(9). Example System Environment: Spectrum Brokering and ExchangeWireless Network

As spectrum becomes an increasingly more valuable asset, brokeringspectrum may become a vehicle to extract value from underutilizedspectrum. Also, existing and new wireless network applications may beginto take advantage of spectrum availability. Under this implementation,wireless networks may be designed to use spectrum on a leased basis inone or more frequency bands in which existing holders have offered thespectrum for use and/or for which a regulatory body has allowedsecondary use of designated spectrum. Conditions on the use of spectrummay be imposed. These conditions may include guidelines established bythe spectrum holder and/or regulatory rules. To maximize compliance withthe conditions, monitoring of the spectrum may be made. A method ofmonitoring spectrum may include using RF sensors that are deployed overa geographic area. The RF sensors may be used to measure the powerlevels of RF transmissions.

The data collected by the RF sensors may be analyzed and used toautomatically correct a wireless network to maximize compliance with theconditions. Additionally, the sensors may be used by the wirelessnetwork service providers to ascertain and/or predict coverage area ofthe wireless network. This information may be used to effectively manageassets and clients within the network to save money and time indeployment and maintenance activities. In addition to or instead ofdeployed sensors, radios used for wireless communication within thenetwork may be to collect spectrum usage information for thesecompliance enforcement and network management functions.

With additional reference to FIG. 16, a wireless network 300 is shown.The wireless network 300 may include access points 302 for providingservice to client devices (not shown). In addition to or instead of theaccess points 302, base stations or other network access radios may bedeployed. The wireless network 300 also may include sensors 304 thatform a sensor network.

The access points 302 may be deployed such that the correspondingantenna pattern reaches the extremes of a geographic coverage area 306so that users of the network within the coverage area 306 may receivesignals.

If the wireless network 300 uses leased spectrum or secondary usespectrum, the coverage area 306 may be defined by the prevailing leaseor leases as set forth in spectrum certificates, for example. If thewireless network 300 exceeds permissible boundaries by transmitting RFenergy beyond the boundaries the wireless network 300 may be consideredto be in violation of the terms of the lease. Potential penalties may beimposed for such a violation.

The sensors 304 may be deployed at the edges of the coverage area 306.In this manner, the spectrum holder(s) and/or a service provider of thewireless network 300 may monitor RF energy levels from networkcomponents, such as the access points 302, the client devices and otherRF transmitters. An analysis may be made based on the data collectedfrom the sensors 304 to determine how far the RF transmissions aretraveling and the frequency of the transmissions. The data also may becompared to the guidelines, the rules, and the rights of thetransmitter. If a violation is detected, the wireless network 300 mayinform the transmitter. Additional or alternative remedial action may betaken, such as automatically reducing the power levels of one or more ofthe transmitters, changing the antenna pattern and/or ceasingtransmission from the violating source. The data from the sensors 304may be analyzed by a server or centralized device that executes aprogram to carry out such functionality. The program may be in the formof software stored on a computer readable medium.

The sensor network may aid a wireless network service provider bydetermining coverage of the network throughout the coverage area 306. Bymeasuring RF levels at the boundaries of the coverage area 306, thewireless network service provider may increase or decrease RF power ofthe various access points 302 and client devices. Also, using thisinformation, antenna patterns may be changed to fill in areas wherecoverage may not be available.

F. Conclusion

Although certain embodiments have been shown and described, it isunderstood that equivalents and modifications falling within the scopeof the appended claims will occur to others who are skilled in the artupon the reading and understanding of this specification.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of transferring spectrum use rights,comprising: receiving an offer for a spectrum commodity item thatidentifies available spectrum by a time window, a frequency-basedspectral mask, a geography-based emission mask and a transmitted powerlimit, the receiving made by a spectrum exchange that is hosted by amachine implemented broker system; receiving one or more bids for thespectrum commodity item from at least one prospective spectrum usersystem of the available spectrum that is associated with the spectrumcommodity item; matching a received bid with the offer; and issuing aspectrum certificate to the spectrum user system that placed the matchedbid.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the spectrum certificate containsa frequency-related variable under which the spectrum user system is toengage in wireless communications, and the frequency-related variablechanges over time.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the matching isbased on a bandwidth variable associated with an intended communicationsapplication of the spectrum user system and a radio equipmentconfiguration of the spectrum user system, and the matching is withoutregard to direct matching of a regulatory classification of the intendedcommunications application with a regulatory classification of spectrumassociated with the offer.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein spectrumassociated with the spectrum certificate is disaggregated from totalavailable spectrum associated with the offer, and the total availablespectrum having at least one of a larger geographic area, a widerfrequency range or a longer time duration than the spectrum associatedwith the spectrum certificate.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein aspectrum segment from the matched offer is aggregated with anotherspectrum segment, and each aggregated spectrum segment is different inat least one of geographic area, frequency range or time duration. 6.The method of claim 1, wherein the matching includes matching aninterference tolerance of radio equipment of the spectrum user systemwith communications activity of another system.
 7. The method of claim1, wherein the spectrum certificate is a data object that obligates aradio device associated with the spectrum user system to which thespectrum certificate was issued to comply with the spectrum certificate.8. The method of claim 1, further comprising: identifying unused orunderutilized spectrum of one or more spectrum holders; and generatingthe spectrum commodity item as a function of the identified spectrum. 9.The method of claim 8, wherein spectrum use data is generated bydeployed spectrum sensors and the spectrum use data is analyzed toidentify the unused or underutilized spectrum.
 10. The method of claim8, wherein the identifying is carried out predictively to identifyspectrum that will be unused or underutilized in the future.
 11. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the spectrum commodity item is generated by aspectrum holder system of a holder of spectrum that is associated withthe spectrum commodity item.
 12. The method of claim 1, wherein thespectrum commodity item is generated by the broker system.
 13. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the spectrum that is associated with thespectrum commodity item corresponds to unlicensed spectrum.
 14. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the frequency-based spectral mask includes atleast one of a frequency range or a center frequency.
 15. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising temporarily or permanently revoking thespectrum certificate if a spectrum user system having higher prioritythan the spectrum user system to which the spectrum certificate wasissued has a need for the spectrum that is associated with the spectrumcommodity item.
 16. The method of claim 1, further comprising warningthe spectrum user system to which the spectrum certificate was issued ifthe spectrum user system does not comply with the combination of thetime window, the frequency-based spectral mask, the geography-basedemission mask and the transmitted power limit associated with thespectrum commodity item.
 17. The method of claim 1, further comprisingtemporarily or permanently revoking the spectrum certificate if thespectrum user system does not comply with the combination of the timewindow, the frequency-based spectral mask, the geography-based emissionmask and the transmitted power limit associated with the spectrumcommodity item.
 18. The method of claim 1, wherein the offer is postedas part of a book of offers for spectrum commodity items.
 19. The methodof claim 18, wherein the offers have associated prices.
 20. The methodof claim 1, wherein the bids are posted as part of a book of bids forspectrum commodity items.
 21. The method of claim 20, wherein the bidshave associated prices.
 22. The method of claim 1, wherein the bid andoffer are matched based on monetary prices that are respectivelyassociated with the bid and the offer.
 23. The method of claim 1,wherein the bid and offer are matched based on priority of the spectrumuser systems associated the bids.
 24. The method of claim 1, wherein thebid and offer are matched based on a non-monetary price consideration.25. The method of claim 24, wherein the non-monetary price considerationis spectrum availability.
 26. The method of claim 1, wherein the bid andoffer are matched based on artificial currency prices that arerespectively associated with the bid and the offer, and there is afinite-sized currency pool for the artificial currency.
 27. The methodof claim 26, wherein portions of the artificial currency pool areallocated respectively to competing interests for spectrum for wirelesscommunications.
 28. The method of claim 27, wherein part of theartificial currency pool is allocated to exchanging spectrum forwireless communication access by client devices and part of theartificial currency pool is allocated to exchanging spectrum forbackhaul service.
 29. The method of claim 27, wherein part of thecurrency pool is allocated to a first user of spectrum for wirelesscommunications and part of the artificial currency pool is allocated toa second user of spectrum for wireless communications.
 30. A spectrumbroker system that hosts a spectrum exchange for the transfer ofspectrum use rights, comprising: an matching engine that: receivesoffers of spectrum commodity items, each spectrum commodity itemidentifying available spectrum by a time window, a frequency-basedspectral mask, a geography-based emission mask and a transmitted powerlimit; receives one or more bids for one or more of the spectrumcommodity items from at least one prospective spectrum user system; andmatches a received bid with one of the offers; and a certificategenerator that issues a spectrum certificate to the spectrum user systemthat placed the matched bid.
 31. The spectrum broker system of claim 30,wherein the spectrum certificate contains a frequency-related variableunder which the spectrum user system is to engage in wirelesscommunications, and the frequency-related variable changes over time.32. The spectrum broker system of claim 30, wherein the matching isbased on a bandwidth variable associated with an intended communicationsapplication of the spectrum user system and a radio equipmentconfiguration of the spectrum user system, and the matching is withoutregard to direct matching of a regulatory classification of the intendedcommunications application with a regulatory classification of spectrumassociated with the offer.
 33. The spectrum broker system of claim 30,wherein spectrum associated with the spectrum certificate isdisaggregated from total available spectrum associated with the offer,and the total available spectrum having at least one of a largergeographic area, a wider frequency range or a longer time duration thanthe spectrum associated with the spectrum certificate.
 34. The spectrumbroker system of claim 30, wherein a spectrum segment from the matchedoffer is aggregated with another spectrum segment, and each aggregatedspectrum segment is different in at least one of geographic area,frequency range or time duration.
 35. The spectrum broker system ofclaim 30, wherein the matching includes matching an interferencetolerance of radio equipment of the spectrum user system withcommunications activity of another system.
 36. The spectrum brokersystem of claim 30, wherein each spectrum certificate is a data objectthat obligates a radio device associated with the spectrum user systemto which the spectrum certificate was issued to comply with the spectrumcertificate.
 37. The spectrum broker system of claim 30, wherein thespectrum commodity item is a function of available spectrum that isidentified from unused or underutilized spectrum of one or more spectrumholders.
 38. The spectrum broker system of claim 37, wherein spectrumuse data is generated by deployed spectrum sensors and the spectrum usedata is analyzed to identify the unused or underutilized spectrum. 39.The spectrum broker system of claim 37, wherein the identification ofunused or underutilized spectrum is a predictive identification toidentify spectrum that will be unused or underutilized in the future.40. The spectrum broker system of claim 30, wherein the spectrumcommodity item is generated by a spectrum holder system of a holder ofspectrum that is associated with the spectrum commodity item.
 41. Thespectrum broker system of claim 30, wherein the spectrum commodity itemis generated by the broker system.
 42. The spectrum broker system ofclaim 30, wherein the spectrum that is associated with the spectrumcommodity item corresponds to unlicensed spectrum.
 43. The spectrumbroker system of claim 30, wherein the frequency-based spectral maskincludes at least one of a frequency range or a center frequency. 44.The spectrum broker system of claim 30, wherein the spectrum brokersystem temporarily or permanently revokes the spectrum certificate if aspectrum user system having higher priority than the spectrum usersystem to which the spectrum certificate was issued has a need for thespectrum that is associated with the spectrum commodity item.
 45. Thespectrum broker system of claim 30, wherein the spectrum broker systemwarns the spectrum user system to which the spectrum certificate wasissued if the spectrum user system does not comply with the combinationof the time window, the frequency-based spectral mask, thegeography-based emission mask and the transmitted power limit associatedwith the spectrum commodity item.
 46. The spectrum broker system ofclaim 30, wherein the spectrum broker system temporarily or permanentlyrevokes the spectrum certificate if the spectrum user system does notcomply with the combination of the time window, the frequency-basedspectral mask, the geography-based emission mask and the transmittedpower limit associated with the spectrum commodity item.
 47. Thespectrum broker system of claim 30, wherein the offer is posted as partof a book of offers for spectrum commodity items.
 48. The spectrumbroker system of claim 47, wherein the offers have associated prices.49. The spectrum broker system of claim 30, wherein the bids are postedas part of a book of bids for spectrum commodity items.
 50. The spectrumbroker system of claim 49, wherein the bids have associated prices. 51.The spectrum broker system of claim 30, wherein the bid and offer arematched based on monetary prices that are respectively associated withthe bid and the offer.
 52. The spectrum broker system of claim 30,wherein the bid and offer are matched based on priority of the spectrumuser systems associated the bids.
 53. The spectrum broker system ofclaim 30, wherein the bid and offer are matched based on a non-monetaryprice consideration.
 54. The spectrum broker system of claim 53, whereinthe non-monetary price consideration is spectrum availability.
 55. Thespectrum broker system of claim 30, wherein the bid and offer arematched based on artificial currency prices that are respectivelyassociated with the bid and the offer, and there is a finite-sizedcurrency pool for the artificial currency.
 56. The spectrum brokersystem of claim 55, wherein portions of the artificial currency pool areallocated respectively to competing interests for spectrum for wirelesscommunications.
 57. The spectrum broker system of claim 56, wherein partof the artificial currency pool is allocated to exchanging spectrum forwireless communication access by client devices and part of theartificial currency pool is allocated to exchanging spectrum forbackhaul service.
 58. The spectrum broker system of claim 56, whereinpart of the currency pool is allocated to a first user of spectrum forwireless communications and part of the artificial currency pool isallocated to a second user of spectrum for wireless communications.